The Initiative
by Hexive
Summary: Nick and Judy's lives are finally recovering from the Nighthower case, with the fox and his companion settling into the routine of everyday life. Yet, when what seems like a random incident on the street develops into a plot that could shake the city to its very core, the two must once again face the danger of their profession. That is, all while handling their own feelings...
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_

 _Chapter one of many to come, and off we go! This is my first attempt at writing fiction and publishing it publicly, the rest I've kept to myself as I've been a bit timid about this. Been writing for many years now, but I hope that this little story can maybe brighten someone else's day or at least help me improve more as an author through actual feedback! Oh, and did I say little? I meant that this is probably going to be pretty long, and that this plot line won't likely even be the end of the story!_

 _I should be posting regular updates once or twice a week, and likely the length will depend on how the story flows more than a rigid limit. Please leave a little comment or review if you liked it, or even if you didn't! I'd love the feedback and will try to respond to most of them if not directly then by addressing whatever the issue is. I can't wait to get to know some of you out there!_

 _This story will likely have a good bit of fun or fluff in it, but don't worry, there will certainly be a plot mixed in there with the rest of it, and plenty of conflict to go around. Otherwise it's no fun, mhh? Also, there will be some elements of HoppsWilde, but I'll let you read to see how far that goes. I'm writing this because I love the world that Zootopia has built and I think it has plenty enough room for more fun or interesting adventures. Enjoy!_

 ** _I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly)._**

* * *

 _ **BZZT BZZT BZZT**_

Nick groaned, rolling to one side on the tattered mattress that he called a bed to slap the alarm clock working its way into his skull from the bedside table, letting it crash to the floor. The buzzing stopped. The fox frowned, slowly pulling his heavy head from where it rested on the mattress, rubbing the sleep from his eyes slowly. It was that time of year again, he could tell by the way his heart quickened, his breath refusing to settle into a steady pace.

The fox let out a groan as he collapsed back onto the bed, slowly rolling his hips against the mattress. Today would not be fun, it was a Wednesday, and he had work to do despite his current condition for the next two days. His cell phone sat dark on the bedside table, and he seriously considered calling in sick for the day. In fact, it would probably be best for everyone if he did.

He picked up the small metal rectangle, the pads of his paws sliding through various menus until he reached the chief's number. The massive ox was always annoyed when Nick used the bovine's personal number to call in, as it was supposed to only be for emergencies. His thumb hovered over the call button, but slowly moved away after a few moments. He really should work, it would be better for him then laying at home all day.

Nick looked up and over to the window, the only light that this tiny apartment got. Living in the city was expensive, even for a close friend of the local celebrity cop. Of course, he could always afford something quite a bit more lavish than this, but he wasn't exactly too picky about his surroundings. After his former accommodations, this was paradise. Finally he made a decision, rolling out of bed and tugging an undershirt over his head before dressing in the police uniform he now belonged in, leaving the top button open despite his tie.

The sly fox shot himself a grin in the mirror, quickly finished preparing for the day, and opened the door to the world outside. Public transit would be hell, but it would certainly be better than walking today.

Nick pushed the door of the patrol room open, striding in confidently as usual, trying to mask his clouded mind. Damn, how did these other guys do it? Surely he wasn't the only one in here with a heat cycle. His nose was already hyperactive, catching every scent in the room, pleasant or otherwise. Damn evolutionary advantage, why did nature have to gift him with such a strong sense of smell? Luckily, no women here to trigger anything specific, the police force was barrenly male, and it looked like Judy wasn't in today to-

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late! Traffic is a killer out there!"

The scent hit him before her words did, and Nick's eyes shot to the tiny bunny pushing her way into the room against the might of its great oaken door. There was no need for the apology, as the chief wasn't even in the room yet, but the fox attempting rather unsuccessfully to regain his composure took it as a moment of mercy.

Judy sprung into the seat next to him, noting his somewhat odd expression as she padded to the left, scanning the rest of the room. There wasn't anything she could notice out of place in the room generally, so she turned back to check his expression again. Somewhere between terror and pain was what she decided it was most close to. She wondered what could cause him such discomfort, worrying for a moment that it might be some sort of injury or pulled muscle that he hadn't reported. After a few more she decided against that, Nick might have a smug appearance on the surface but he would never let it actually devolve to the point of needless bravado in such a situation, she was sure.

"Hey there sly, what's up?" She inquired casually, shuffling in her seat. Bunnies were restless, even as much as they tried to dispel that stereotype.

Nick flashed his usual grin back at her quickly burying whatever baggage he was carrying for the time being, infuriating the bunny in the process. Why was he so good at that? Oh yeah, he learned young. "Same as always fluff, stuck in a room with a bunch of knuckleheads, slowly becoming one." He let his voice carry to the rest of the room, and Judy frowned as a few chuckles responded. He had cut off their conversation from going anywhere personal by involving the rest of the force. Sly fox.

Nick slowly shuffled his collar, again, his partner could detect the slightest discomfort. Perhaps the room was too hot? Judy whimpered slightly, realizing that she didn't really know much about fox physiology. What was comfortable to her might be hellishly warm for members of the vulpine family, and she suddenly felt very guilty for all the times that she had hijacked their patrol car's climate control.

"You okay there, carrots?" The doe realized she was being addressed.

"Oh, yeah, just didn't get much sleep is all," she lied, she didn't want him concerned with her today.

"Bad dreams?"

"No, nothing like that." She shrugged, rubbing her eyes to make her ruse more convincing to the bigger officer.

He shrugged in return, sitting back in his chair, one arm draped over the side. "Whatever you say fluff." He was really concerned and she noticed, smiling slightly again as her ears perked up. It was good to have a reliable partner on the force.

The rest of what might have come was cut off by Bogo entering the room. The chief called for quiet as per usual, despite the room already being for the most part silent. He carried under one arm a small stack of red folders, the usual for case files in the ZPD. "I have three things on the docket this morning. Firstly, our newly reinstated mayor has asked me to inform all of you that he does not plan on changing active initiative two anytime soon, regardless of public concern over the Bellwether incident."

Judy nodded to herself, stealing a glance at Nick to see his reaction. He seemed distracted by something, paying no attention really to what Bogo had said. She was surprised. Despite his joking, lazy demeanor, he was a hard worker usually and paid attention during morning meetings. He would be happy to learn the information too, acting initiative two was one put in place by mayor Lionheart's predecessor's predecessor, and had been widely popular both in the force and public for some time. It called for only non-lethal weaponry to be used by the police force in almost every case, and very clear cut rules as to when lethal weaponry was allowed. The public was unable to own guns, so why should the police escalate force by running around everywhere with them? However, after the damage done by Bellwether the public had been advocating for police forces to be allowed at least handguns to more effectively defend themselves. Judy thought it was ridiculous. She didn't need to wonder why not a single cop had come forward to support that idea yet.

Bogo continued. "However, that brings me to item number two. Thanks to the significant public pressure, the mayor has decided that several officers will need to be selected for more advanced firearm training. Over this week all of you will be examined for your marksmanship ability, and those that score high enough will be instructed the week following this in how to refine said abilities."

Judy's frown deepened significantly, and she began to speak up. "Chief-" Bogo ignored it and interrupted her. He did not like to waste everyone's precious time.

"Quiet! Finally, item number three. Sahara square has been off the charts in reports of theft. Officers Krumpanski, Delgato, you two check it out in one team. Fangmeyer, Higgins, different team, same mission. The rest of you are on the usual patrol. Dismissed."

Judy's face fell even further at that, she was being assigned grunt work again! Nick nudged her this time. "Carrots, something tells me you were lying about the being okay thing…" he let his voice trail off in that casual, disarming tone he so often employed.

The smaller doe shook her head. "Let's talk about it in the car." Her ears drooped slightly, and the fox beside her nodded understandingly, his tail slowly pressing near her back comfortingly. Judy blushed slightly at that and quickly hopped off her chair. Nick never did that, especially putting his tail in harm's way.

The pair quickly made their way to the garage and subsequently out onto the streets in their custom patrol car. Nick leaned back, stretching the soft pads of his feet out over the dashboard and lazily dropping his hands behind his head as Judy started a course that would take them through the four closest major districts. It was their usual route, which changed every month or really whenever Bogo decided was best. "So, what's muzzling that cute little smile, mh?"

Judy's eyes widened ever so slightly at Nick's casual use of the word 'muzzle'. He must really be worried about her. "Oh, just doesn't make much sense to me is all…" she dismissed the question, pulling around a corner that housed a Caribou Coffee.

Nick's ears perked slightly and he frowned as he realized she wasn't going to continue without prompting. "What… doesn't make sense?"

The bunny pursed her lips, biting one gently with her front teeth. "The whole firearms affair. I mean, first of all why would we even know how to use them in the first place to score high enough to be provided the super special training or whatever, and secondly why would the mayor tell us we won't be using guns anytime soon, then immediately starts a program to teach us how to use them." She pouted, her frustration showing as she nearly cut off a cursing ram.

Nick had been following something with his gaze out the passenger window as she spoke, and he started as the ram blasted on his horn, his gaze jerking back to his partner. "Sorry carrots, what was that again? I didn't catch the last bit."

Judy's eyes darted to try to catch what he had been looking at, but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Nick didn't just space out, even if he was getting less sleep. She rolled her eyes, sighing. "Nothing."

The Fox's ears went back as he noticed her posture, and her tone did little to help his worry as she shrugged him off. "No, really Judy, what's happening? I'm sorry, I'm just feeling a little off today, a little distracted." He figured saying that much would allow for some leeway while removing the embarrassing necessity of explaining what exactly was distracting him. Sly Fox.

"By what?" the rabbit snapped back. Oops, not so sly perhaps.

"Allergies, real bad ones," he lied… kinda.

Judy shot him a sideways glance, obviously not buying it, but she knew that a lot of species in the city had to deal with seasonal allergies in the spring, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Well, you've never complained about them before." To his credit, she hadn't been through a full spring with him yet. She reiterated the issue, and her crimson partner rubbed his snout, frowning.

"Well, I don't think we can really blame that on anyone fluff. It's politics. See, he says that we're not gonna get guns to appease the guys that don't want 'em, then turns around and gives us training for them just in case to make the people that do want them shut up for a while. Everyone's happy..."

"And Lionheart gets reelected. Yeah, I guess it makes sense," Judy let out a sigh, some of the tension leaving her body as they stopped for a traffic light. "So long as they don't start arming us I'm happy. I want to protect people, not kill them." She shuddered. Even as a kid, she hated firearms. The ban on them in the city and surrounding countryside had been a debate in some rural counties, but one that she had never involved herself in.

Nick nodded, leaning back again. However, after a few more silent seconds he turned his head to her. "And?"

The tiny bunny stepped on the gas again, her eyes drifting slightly to her partner. "What do you mean, 'and'?"

"Something else is bugging you, bun. I can tell that much."

Judy's ears warmed. Had he really learned to read her that well so quickly? "It's just… Bogo gave us grunt work, again. He seems to be doing that a lot, I figured that after the Nighthowler case he would trust us enough to let us take on the important stuff, like those thieves in Sahara Square."

Nick was staring at her, and it was hard to believe that he actually heard a word of her explanation again. He blinked, shaking his head suddenly. "Ugh, sorry Hopps, allergies again. I think Bogo's worried about us being a bit too high profile at the moment. After all, you're like a B-list celebrity these days. Household name! I wouldn't doubt even Lionheart has considered the whole 'face of the ZPD' thing."

Judy rolled her eyes. "I'm not that famous, and don't count yourself out of this slick Nick, you had so many high school vixens asking for your number the department had to classify your record!"

The russet fox chuckled, "A little young for my tastes, carrots, but thanks for the info. And I mean it, I might have gotten a bit of attention in the fox community, but you're a hero through the entire city! Thank god Bellwether's trial is still going on, or that video of me chasing you would be public. I would get torn to pieces."

Judy winced at that. She hoped that no one would get a hold of that video either. Her parents likely wouldn't be nearly as tolerant of her fox partner if they had to watch him bite down on her jugular. "Ugh, hopefully they understand what was happening there. Maybe you were a little too good at acting that out for your own good."

"Mama always said I would make it in Hollywoof. Too bad a bunny cop pulled me out of that glorious path."

Judy punched him in the arm, drawing a wince. "I found you pawpsicle hustling, must I remind you," she smirked.

"Yeah..." Nick's voice trailed off, and it took a few more minutes of cruising for her to realize that he was staring at her again, his eyes fixed on her form. His tail slowly swished from side to side as he watched.

"Those are some weird allergies..." She finally spoke when she realized that he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. The bunny gave a nervous chuckle.

The vulpine jerked back guiltily, pinching his own arm so hard that it drew blood against his claws. He didn't seem to notice as he chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, yeah, they sure are! Just uh, make me feel kinda out of it. Pollen or something?" he lied fairly unconvincingly, something that was also very much unlike the clever fox to do.

Judy's eyes darted from side to side as she parked the cruiser on the side of the street, pulling the keys out of the ignition, and they widened, ears drooping back as she saw how much blood was slowly pulsing out of her partner's forearm. "Nick, you need to tell- Oh sweet cheese and crackers! What did you do!?"

Nick also seemed to have just noticed the fur halfway to his elbow rapidly turning a slightly darker shade of red. "Oh, I must have scratched myself on a piece of the interior or got a claw caught or something, don't worry!" He said again very unconvincingly, panicking as he lapped the blood away from the wound, making sure it wasn't too deep.

"What has gotten into you so suddenly? I don't see you over the weekend at all, we don't even get anything to eat much less talk to each other, I'm worried half to death by it and then you act like you're a walking zombie and pretend everything's okay?" Judy seemed near-frantic at this point, and Nick whimpered, pulling his ears back slightly as they fell behind his head guiltily.

"Carrots… just, don't worry about me, okay? Now's really not-"

"Now is exactly-!"

He would have been cut off by the rabbit's heated tirade, but they were both interrupted by a yelp from their right, where a large wooden fence cordoned off a patch of land for private use. It was a call that every officer would recognize, the purpose of their mission.

" _HELP!_ "


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_

 _So, chapter two is finally here! I meant to post this earlier but didn't realize that my life was going to get rather busy rather fast! Regardless, this series will continue, whether or not it means me getting sleep or not. Probably the most fun I've had in a long time, and plenty more is still to come (ahem, after editing is complete). My goal is still for the maximum time between posts to be a week, and so far it looks like that should be pretty simple to keep up._

 _I want to thank everyone who's left any sort of feedback at all at this point, as someone just starting out in the fiction community it's great to already have inspiration in the form of interested people, because that's what you are! Very inspiring in fact. I merely hope that I can make your day a little brighter by offering my little story of Judy and Nick's adventures as so many before have done for me._

 _Anyways, enough of all that sappy stuff. You're here for the story! And look, it finally has a real plot developing! Though do not be afraid, there will be plenty more fluffy shenanigans involving our furred friends' feelings... enjoy!_

 ** _I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly)._**

* * *

" _ **HELP!"**_

Judy's ears shot up as she heard the cry, and her eyes jerked to the fence near their patrol car, which shook slightly as a lamb emerged from around it. She looked just over fifteen, and was hunched over slightly holding the side of her that was turned away from them.

Nick immediately stood and moved to the lamb's side, his nose twitching. However, upon seeing the ZPD fox despite his uniform, she screamed and began to run, half limping down the sidewalk away from them. Judy ran after her, shouting.

"ZPD ma'am, we don't mean you any harm!" and then, "Nick, do you know what's going on?"

Nick shouted his own words of reassurance, but they were ignored until the Lapin officer managed to get in front of the panicking sheep. She stopped finally, whimpering as Judy realized what was troubling her. She had a gash several inches long on her side, and blood was slowly seeping from it. The girl was holding something in her hand that wasn't busy covering the wound, her eyes darting from side to side skittishly.

"Ma'am please calm down, you're safe now." The rabbit's tone changed to a much more caring demeanor despite her brief sprint, classic training to calm down victims of an assault. Judy quickly scanned over her wound. It looked deep, from what she could see at least. The lamb tensed as she heard pawsteps behind her and she spun around to see Nick jogging to their position, his tail swishing slowly.

The lamb screeched again and raised her hand quickly, revealing the item that she had been clutching.

Judy realized a second too late what it was. "Wai- Nick! Watch-"

The vulpine had no time to stop before he got a face full of fox-away. He made a noise unlike anything the rabbit had ever heard before, halfway between a screech and a pained yelp. Nick fell to his front and tumbled a few times before pressing his paws to his eyes, shuddering and retching.

The lapin's pupils shrunk as she saw her partner go down, swatting the small canister of fox-away out of the victim's hands and raising her radio to her lips as she ran to the incapacitated form of her good friend. "This is officer Hopps, 10-52, we have an injured civilian and officer Wilde has been incapacitated, he needs medical attention too." She kicked herself, they really needed a code for a non life-threatening officer down situation. Or just to use common English instead of this mumbo-jumbo. Not like the codes really saved much time or were any sort of secret.

The telltale noise of sirens was immediately detectable to the bunny's enhanced hearing, and she was pleased that they seemed to be close. Nick shied away from her touch and she whimpered as she reached for him. His eyes were beet red, hands pressed to them to keep light away. Tears streamed from his face, matting down the fur over his cheeks and down his muzzle. The injured fox whimpered in return as she pulled his paws away, trying her best to roll him over so that the light would stay out of his eyes without rubbing any more irritant into them.

"I-I'm fine carrots-" he coughed roughly, the motion rattling his chest, and choked out the last of his sentence, "go… help the cut one." His voice sounded like death itself.

Judy's ears shot up, in her haste to help her partner and anger at the lamb she had ignored a potentially life-threatening injury. Nick looked bad, but he wasn't the one bleeding out.

The sound of sirens approached, and Judy returned to the skittish lamb, helping her to keep the wound sealed as paramedics arrived. They took the lamb into the ambulance after sedating her, hearing the rabbit's explanation of what she had done before. Nick was also pulled into the ambulance, and the doors were shut before Judy could get in despite her constant protesting. The vehicle sped off.

Judy was left standing in the dust and she whimpered, her ears falling to her back. Her mind was still racing. Everything had happened so quickly she hadn't really been able to think beyond the facts of the case. Who even had stabbed the lamb? Violence wasn't unheard of, in fact it was unfortunately far from irregular in the crowded city center. Yet, the more that she tried to worry about the cause of the situation, the more she simply worried over her partner. He had already been acting so strangely, and she had seen what fox-away did in textbooks back in the academy. It wasn't permanent damage, but it certainly wasn't pleasant or pretty. Her foot tapped quickly in frustration.

She climbed back into her cruiser and sighed, setting a course for the hospital. No doubt a crime of this profile would require a thorough report, something she was not looking forward to.

Nick squinted, hissing at the light through strained eyes. He tried to raise a paw to shield them, but found that for some reason he was unable to.

"Nick!" Judy's voice split the air, and she couldn't stop it from cracking half way through the exclamation. The vulpine felt a pair of tiny bunny paws on his arm, and he tried his best to squint at her properly.

"Carrots, not so loud okay? Head still not doing so great," he rasped out, letting a small smile take his features. He couldn't see that his partner was in the room still, but it was comforting, the slight touch. And, thank goodness that the sedatives that he was apparently on stopped his sense of smell, as well as… well, the rest of him from working properly, otherwise the close proximity might not have been so helpful after all.

A doe came to the side of the bed, smiling gently. She was dressed in the standard uniform of a nurse. "Officer Hopps, this is your partner, no?"

"Yes?"

The nurse nodded. "I thought so, I remember seeing you two on the news."

Judy flinched at that. So, maybe they were kinda famous after all.

"Anyway, he'll be fine, don't worry. We get this kind of stuff all the time. Now, normally it's just mace or pepper spray, but fox-away is a little bit nastier especially on… err, foxes. Messes with their systems more specifically. Anyway, while there won't be any permanent damage, he'll be out for a few days. I'm not writing him clear until Monday, and the symptoms should gradually grow weaker naturally over time. We've done all we can do clear away the chemical from his fur, but the rest of it was already integrated far enough that it would do more harm than good to extract unless he really wanted to be shaved. Foxes tend not to react so well to that. Bed rest and proper hygiene is the best treatment at this point."

The rabbit nodded, making sure that Nick was still paying attention. He was, at least as far as she could tell.

"Of course, he's going to need someone to look after him as well, to make sure that-"

Nick's eyes nearly shot open at that, then they immediately closed to a squint at the burning sensation that followed. "Wait, what?"

"Well you can hardly see, Mr. Wilde. You'll need someone, like a close family member or a good friend to look after you for a time while you recover. To make sure that you're taking care of yourself and that it doesn't cause any further injury."

The vulpine seemed near panic at that thought and Judy frowned, he was acting all strange again. There had been times before where he had visited to watch movies or to pick her up on the way to police events, so she wasn't exactly sure what the problem would be with her sticking around to take care of him. She gulped, starting slightly as her ears heated up. She had just assumed that she would be the person looking after Nick. While she knew he didn't have any real close family or friends in Zootopia, perhaps it was a bit arrogant to immediately deem herself worthy of such a personal position.

"I think I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much. I just need… a shower, or something." His voice was already starting to return, but he coughed again as he finished his defense. He certainly did not look like he just needed 'a shower or something'.

"No… Nick, trust me, I can take a few days off, I've got so much vacation banked. I mean, I've got to use those days sometime." She leaned in, putting a paw on his upper arm.

The nurse left the room momentarily as the fox shook his head, shrinking from her touch a bit. "No Carrots, that would be a very bad idea. Just, trust me on this one okay?"

Judy's face fell from that of care for her partner to one of suspicion, her eyes narrowing. "What is going on with you? You were close to telling me before this mess, and there's definitely something wrong beyond the fox-away."

Nick sighed, his ears falling back. "Listen Judy, I would tell you, but just trust me when I say that you don't want to know this one." His short-term sedatives had mostly worn off by now, so he slowly sat up, feeling the edge of the hospital bed and moving his legs to dangle over it. It was a huge bed for him, but they all had to accommodate even the largest elephant.

The bunny's ears fell to her back and she whimpered. He'd called her Judy that time, he didn't usually do that unless it was something serious. "Okay… but, I'm still gonna look after you while you recover, you can't expect me just to… leave you like this."

The red fox chuckled gently. "It really looks that bad?" Then, remembering, "Oh shoot, what about that lamb, is she okay?"

Judy nodded, frowning. "Yeah, she was lucky, whatever stabbed her missed most of the major organs. She hasn't woken up for questioning yet, so we still really don't know what happened. Higgins was nearby so he checked out the fence and around it. He found some blood but nothing else to go on." Her expression soured as she continued. "I'm gonna try to get her charged for assaulting an officer. I don't care how badly you're hurt, you can't just attack people."

Nick held up a hand as she spoke. "And I'll refuse to show up in court. Carrots, think with me for a second. I'm a _fox_. I was running at her, a _lamb_ , after she had been _stabbed_."

"Yeah, but that doesn't give her any excuse to-"

"She was scared Judy, I'm a natural predator, remember that time in city hall after we found all the caged nighthowler victims? Foxes used to eat sheep just like they used to eat bunnies."

Judy winced at that, whimpering. He still remembered her reaction to him that day, she had been praying that could become a distant memory sooner than later. "But… you've done so much for this city… I-I was hoping that maybe the celebrity status could at least help people realize that foxes, and not just foxes but you of all people can't be defined by your species' reputation… I thought things were getting better..."

Nick heard the distress in her voice and slowly climbed down from the bed carefully, feeling the air to find her. The rabbit was looking down and accidentally caught a paw to the back of her head, but didn't mind as he found her shoulders, resting his hands on them. "Carrots, things are getting better, trust me. But, people don't think when they're scared. Who knows, maybe a fox stabbed her and she mistakenly didn't see the uniform."

Judy nodded and then realized that wouldn't be an appropriate answer, speaking up. "Yeah."

Nick bit his lip, keeping the smile up as he continued. "And hey, if you really want to deal with fox fur getting all over your stuff then that's fine by me. I couldn't think of a better partner."

The lapin's ears burned at that, her face heating up as she smiled. "Yeah," she agreed, punching his arm, "stop resisting ya big pest. And brush yourself, you're getting red hair all over the car."

She knew he took good care of himself, but ribbing him about it always got a reaction. This time though, it did not.

"Alright, this is way worse than I thought it would be," Nick groaned.

Judy tried to suppress a chuckle as she moved to help him off the ground, his paw had caught the edge of a chair upon entering his own apartment, sending him tumbling to the hardwood floor.

The rabbit slowly observed the room as she helped her partner to his feet, struggling against their difference in weight. His apartment was far from what most would consider 'nice', but then again she had to admit that hers was the same, if not worse.

The room was much larger than that of her own entire home, but with a lower ceiling and slightly dimmer lighting. There was a door on her right coming in the main entrance painted brick to match the reddish-brown interior wall color, and another in the farthest left corner of the room. She finished helping the fox to his feet and slowly guided him to the kitchen. "So this is what your place looks like, huh?" She hadn't yet had a chance to visit the fox in his own home, even if he had been on the force for just over a month now.

"Yeah I know, it's probably a mess, but I did warn you fluff." He was guided to a chair, frowning. "You know, I would really love to see. The whole blindness thing isn't exactly to my liking."

Judy nodded, smiling smugly. "And you thought you would be fine alone? Either way it should mostly wear off by tomorrow enough for you to see a bit, but it'll take until Monday to get that excellent eyesight of yours back."

Nick would have rolled his eyes, were they open. "You're never gonna let that go, will you Carrots?" When he had been admitted to the department in the city center he had taken an eyesight test as well as hearing per the usual requirements. However, upon being asked what the smallest letters on the vision chart were he had recited them perfectly, having seen and memorized them on the way into the ophthalmologist's office. Thus, he was listed as having 20/5 vision, a technical medical impossibility. To date the record had not been corrected, and would not be for four more months until his biannual inspection.

Judy was about to respond that no, she wouldn't, but her speech was cut off by the ringing of her phone. She brought it up to her face, it was her parents. They were requesting a muzzletime session and her ears flicked upwards at that. It had been maybe a week and a half since she had seen them, what with their huge family Judy was happy that she normally got to talk with them every week or so.

She reached up to Nick's counters, jumping onto one to allow her access to a cupboard. Her partner's house was a bit scaled up, much too large for the comparatively half-sized bunny. She opened the cabinet with some difficulty to which Nick's ears perked up, following the sound of the call and her moving around.

Judy managed to somehow reach a glass, bringing it down to set on the counter in front of her as she finally answered the call. Her mother's familiar face filled the screen, and she smiled at her. "Hey mom!"

"Hey there Judy! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Bonnie smiled through the screen to the bunny officer.

"I mean, a week and a half mom, but you could say that I guess. Oh! I almost forgot, say hello!" She beamed, panning the camera to encompass Nick in his blinded state, who graciously waved a paw at the source of the sound. He was ever so slightly off, so the wave went more into the empty space to Judy's right than to any party.

"Oh my goodness, well there must be a bit that you're leaving out! And oh dear, what ever happened to Nick?" Bonnie's eyes widened as she looked over the fallen fox.

"Well, remember that fox deterrent that you _insisted_ I take here with me when I first left?" Judy pursed her lips, frowning slightly.

Her mother's eyes widened even further, "Oh Judy, did you need to finally use it on him? Oh I know how that can be traumatic, I mean you think you know someone but then they just-"

"Mom! What are you talking about? A lamb that had been injured attacked-"

Nick interrupted her this time, "A lamb who had been scared half to death-"

"Exactly, but still, attacked Nick when we were trying to help her! I mean, it's not permanent and Nick says he won't press charges, but he's still out of commission for a few days. I'm taking them off to take care of him, since he can't… well, see." The lapin's heart sunk as her mom assumed that Nick was the party at fault in this case, and that he had tried to hurt _her_ of all people in some way. She tried to cover it up with a smile and more chatter, but her ears drooped. She moved the phone to push her upper head out of frame.

Bonnie smiled nervously at Judy's affirmation that she would be helping Nick. "Oh, well let him know that we're thinking of him back in Bunnyburrow!" she responded, ignoring that he could obviously hear them, "And Judy, may I talk to you later when you're home? Personal information."

The bunny officer's forehead shrunk a bit in confusion, then she smiled and waved away the worry. "Oh don't worry mom, Nick knows me better than just about anyone in the city, and plus, I'm staying overnight here."

Bonnie's eyes widened further at that, but she was shocked out of it a bit by her husband apparently entering the room. His face appeared in frame after a few moments.

"Hey there Jude the dude! Oh, and Nick! Gotta say we've only seen pictures, but it's great to finally catch you live!" he interrupted, then quickly in a much quieter tone but still that was still very audible, "Why is he squinting?"

Bonnie responded in the same 'hushed' tone. "He just got hit with fox-away on patrol Stu, let him be." She swatted at her husband's arm.

"I told you Judy would need that some day-"

The rabbit officer tapped her foot on the floor, interrupting, "It wasn't me!" she blurted out, exasperated. "Some lamb flipped out on him, I don't even carry that stuff anymore."

Nick was busy chewing his lip and pretending he wasn't listening and hearing everything, but the way his ears twitched at every several words and his lack of really trusting himself to get anywhere besides around his immediate surroundings what with both his eyes and nose thoroughly disabled still kept him notably involved.

Both of the bunny cop's parents cringed slightly as she said that, expressions dropping to that of well-meaning concern. They lowered their voices, a tactic that had proven totally ineffective before, but seemed to at least reassure them that only Judy could hear them.

Stu spoke first, "You know, you really should carry that, I mean Nick might be great and all but still it might come in handy, it works on most canine and vulpine species you know, not just for foxes!"

Bonnie nodded, "And we just want you to be safe is all-"

"Exactly! And even if it isn't Nick-"

"Who we're sure it won't be-"

"You could still use it on other criminals that might be trying to hurt you!"

Judy tried to interrupt, "Mom, Dad, I can just carry pepper spray if you care that-"

Stu nodded, "Whatever you like, but maybe fox-away would come in more handy you know, totally knocks the target species out if you hit 'em right!"

Bonnie shushed her husband, interrupting, "Look Judy it's okay if you don't want but..." she lowered her voice again, this time making it harder for Nick to hear. Still easy, but harder than before. "Are you sure you want to stay overnight at that house? I mean..."

Judy opened her mouth to protest the prejudice, but was cut off by her mother too quickly.

"I'm sure Nick is really sweet and everything, but he's a fox-" again, her daughter began to open her mouth but she rushed to finish, "-and it's _spring_ , Judy. _Spring_! For all the good he may be it's pretty hard to deal with those instincts."

Judy felt her skin start to heat up in anger, but she snuffed it for now, trying to think of what her mother could mean by that. Time on the force as well as in the academy had taught her how to control her temper a bit better than that, if just barely. "What do you mean about it being spring?" she finally managed, her tone notably controlled.

Her parents looked to each other guiltily. This was a talk that maybe was a little delayed, but they hadn't exactly expected their daughter to deal with anyone outside her own species in that regard. Bonnie finally took up the answer after an awkward pause, speaking softly. "Oh, Judy… you know what foxes go through this time of year… It can make them a little… Well, you get the idea."

The rabbit officer frowned, thinking again, then had a moment of revelation. Of course! Nick was suffering severely from his allergies, it must be a common fox issue. She winced guiltily, realizing that she had done very little research on foxes to accommodate for her partner, while she knew for a fact that Nick had at least done some reading on bunnies from a few casual comments on patrol.

The lapin turned to her partner, then back to her phone, nodding. She could understand her parent's concerns, after all he had been acting awfully strange, if mostly just unfocused. "Oh, don't worry at all mom, we'll be fine. I'm actually helping him out with that too, I picked up some medicine on the way to his apartment for it!" She responded cheerily.

Bonnie's jaw dropped, and her husband stood in what looked like horrified shock for several moments before Judy's mother blushed, looking away from the camera. "Well, we thought you would have said something about that before hand, but I guess just… be careful, okay?" She seemed very concerned, scared even, and her dad was worse, just clamming up entirely.

"Okay?" Judy laughed nervously. "Well, gotta go, thanks for talking bye!" She quickly pressed the 'end call' button, closing the connection over the faces of her concerned parents. Whatever was bugging them they would get over soon enough, and she wasn't in the mood to listen to them referring to Nick like he was going to pounce on her and tear her throat out at any moment. She sighed, turning back to the fox who had a strange expression of his own.

His face was even redder than normal, and he was pulling his ears back, brushing the fur on his head with his claws nervously. "Carrots-"

Judy shushed him. "I'm sorry about that Nick, really. My parents are still a little skittish about all of this… they're good people, and they're getting better slowly. Still, that doesn't give them any excuse to treat you like that! I mean they acted like you're going to jump me or something!"

Nick cringed at that and wished that he could see, something to be able to at least moderate his own expressions. "Carrots!" He finally quieted her, holding up a paw as he put his other over the bridge of his muzzle. "That's… they were…" He stopped, searching for the proper way of explaining what was actually going on. The fox sighed, not formulating an answer for some time. "Have you done like, _any_ reading on foxes?" He sounded hopeful, but knew that the answer would be.

Judy's ears had fallen to her back when he yelled, but they drooped even more when he presented that question out loud. "Uh… I-I've been meaning to…"

Nick nodded. "I could tell… Honestly maybe it's for the best that you didn't, or at least this part. I don't have allergies."

Judy's face scrunched up. "You don't…?" Her nose twitched slightly, and she whimpered, a bit hurt. Surely he had a good reason at least to lie though, right?

"I uh… well, It's spring. And I, I get kinda weird during spring," then, finding a way to defuse the tension with humor, "something in my biology, based in my DNA, so to speak." He smiled at that, it made him a lot more comfortable, but the rabbit only shrunk back even further.

"I'm sorry about that Nick, really… I was horrible to-"

"Fluff, it was a joke… well kinda. Do you know what a heat cycle is?" The fox tensed. It was out now, Judy would know exactly what he was talking about. He just prayed that she didn't notice his likely not-so reserved staring at her earlier. Of course, with his luck, it wasn't likely to be that easy.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:**_

 _Looks like Judy maybe wanted to watch her choice of words last chapter a bit? I'm sure that won't have any sort of far-reaching consequences or anything! People do tend to assume after all._

 _But, I will keep this note relatively short. Again, thank you for all the feedback that's come in so far and I hope those that are enjoying continue to enjoy! I wanted to have this chapter done earlier but happened to fall behind on editing. I love writing, but must say my editing is both slow and also not very high quality. Well, only one way to get better I suppose!_

 _With that, enjoy!_

 _ **I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly).**  
_

* * *

"Fluff, it was a joke... well, kinda. Do you know what a heat cycle is?" The fox tensed. It was out now, Judy would know exactly what he was talking about.

"No…?"

Or she wouldn't. Nick groaned. That made it even harder. Not only that, but obviously this bunny was lacking some education. Then again, bunnies didn't have heat cycles, so he guessed that there would be no point to teach that in a place like Bunnyburrow and it wasn't like. "Okay Carrots, this isn't going to go well, but I'm gonna be as blunt as possible about it." He was using his hands to talk, Judy noted through her confusion. He did that a lot, it was a little quirk of his, among many, that made her smile a bit, bringing her guard down if only slightly again.

"It has to do with mating, Hopps." The fox started his long-delayed explanation, "Basically, during certain months, and well, for me thanks to my absolutely _wonderful_ genetics pretty much the entire spring, my body tells me repeatedly every few minutes that it's time to mate. Now, I can keep it under control, but it certainly can cause a lot of… well, distraction… on the job and when I'm trying to talk to my partner. And there's no way to fix it, not even like medicine or anything that doesn't have dangerous side effects."

Judy opened her mouth to answer, then shut it again as nothing came out. "Oh." She finally managed, meekly. That's what it was. Nick was just hardwired to be especially… 'active' during the spring months. While Judy hadn't ever participated in anything like that before, she knew how it worked from her own 'research', and understood where the fox was coming from at least. Still, her ears were turning a shade of brick. Then, realizing that the awkward pause was probably even worse to the blind fox, the bunny tried to fill the air with something besides burning silence. "Well at least that explains why you were all distracted earlier, there was-"

"An arctic fox passing the car, yes." Nick interrupted, sighing. Until that point he had been nearly on fire in embarrassment, and his face was devoid of its usual tan undermuzzle. At this, it faded slightly. Judy was making it easier, as usual. One of the reasons he had taken such a liking to the bunny.

"Wait, but you were staring at me too, so it can't just-" The rabbit's eyes shot open suddenly, her pupils shrinking to dots. So much for making this easier.

Nick tried to escape the situation by literally fleeing the room, but he only managed to fall off his stool in his incapacitated state, toppling to the ground with a panicked yelp. Judy rushed forward to help him up, but he shrank away, finally accepting a hand only after a bit more fretting, limping for a few moments as he paced the kitchen, bumping into things the whole time before the shock of the fall wore off.

Judy's entire face went a darker shade of scarlet, and she grabbed the water glass she had retrieved earlier seconds before a fox paw could swat it from the counter. "How about I get you some water?"

The vulpine graciously accepted her diversion, and nodded. "Yes!" He spoke more forcefully than the situation demanded by any standard and continued, trying to cover his tracks. "I-it's not personal Hopps, I'm really sorry! Honestly no matter who was sitting that close to me if they were a girl, like you, I'd be staring at them too."

The rabbit officer bit her lip. That had come out wrong. Well, it would have been fine, if not for the fact that the bunny wasn't entirely sure she was opposed to Nick's thoughts of her. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered by it or offended, but he had certainly removed the flattered half if it were possible in his clumsy attempt at making this less awkward for both of them. She shoved the glass of water into his hand, offering him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

"Oof-" The fox felt the air driven out of his lungs by the slightly peeved bunny.

"Why so?" Judy smirked, if he was gong to be like that she would ask harder questions.

Nick, for once, didn't take the bait though and try to cover further. "The smell." He spoke without hesitation.

"What do you mean by that? Like, I smell weird?"

"No no no Carrots, just in general. When I'm in heat I… females, especially fit ones, have a certain sort of aroma. Really makes it hard to focus."

The lapin's face scrunched up at that. "Then why haven't you been staring off into space this entire time?"

"Listen Judy, if you think that for one minute I haven't been moderating my thoughts very carefully this entire time, you'd be dead wrong. And the only reason it hasn't gotten that bad is thanks to well, not being able to both smell or see. But that's the point, even the thought of you is enough to-" He slammed his hands over his mouth, downing the water in one gulp to cover for it. "You get it."

The rabbit's ears were, if it was even possible, even pinker than when he had been explaining his problem. Okay, she could just trust him that it wasn't personal but everything pointed it to being exactly that, he was probably lying to make it easier on both of them again. That was something she could live without, she wanted the fox to be able to trust her. Regardless, she let it slide. They could talk about this when he wasn't in constant pain. Her voice dropped to a much more calming, soft tone. "Look, Nick, you don't have to make excuses to me. I understand, okay? How about I help you feel out the bathroom so you can shower while I make us something to eat?"

The vulpine nodded, smiling sheepishly back at her. "Thanks, Carrots. Sorry about all of this… really, if I could get rid of this stupid thing I would."

Judy punched his arm, eliciting another 'ouch'. She grinned, ears standing again finally, if still quite pink around the inside. "Trust me, it's kinda fun watching you stumble about ogling other girls."

The vulpine groaned. "Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?"

Judy hummed to herself over the sound of the shower in the next room. It must me nice, she mused, to have your own personal shower and bathroom. In her apartment there was hardly enough room for her to fit, much less any sort of restroom. The building had a shared affair that the rabbit visited every day that, while lackluster and devoid of much privacy, still was functional. She never really had been one for vanity. Then again, foxes did live somewhat more secluded lifestyles, certainly more than the ever-increasing bunny population. Perhaps this fit the lonely red fox better. Well, lonely until she came along. Now that Judy thought about it, Nick's only real other friend was Finnick. It must be a hard life having to trick people to get by, but she was glad that her partner was past all that now.

As for how she felt about his little problem, and her involvement in it? She wasn't really quite sure what to think. Most of her wanted to scold the fox. It was incredibly unprofessional, even somewhat frowned upon to even discuss possibilities of fraternization in the police force. Not only that but right now he was only really thinking about her for the physical aspect of a relationship, and she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted that from the fox, as handsome, charming, and sly as he was. Then, on the other hand, she thought exactly like that. Nick really was an amazing friend, and Judy didn't pretend that she also didn't have… needs, sometimes. The rabbit sighed, putting the thought to the back of her mind and trying to let it die there. It resisted, vehemently.

To distract herself, she actually got to doing what she said she would. The lapin navigated the comparatively giant counters, again clambering all over them to try to find ingredients. She came up fairly empty-pawed, all of her treasures lined up in a row. There was a box of cereal, half empty, some assorted spices, vitamins, some of that horrid heat medicine Nick was talking about that had only one pill missing and the rest left untouched, a five pound bag of flour, and a five pound bag of sugar.

"Not much to go on, slick," she murmured, pursing her lips.

The next stop on her quest for food was somewhat more promising, digging in the bottom cabinets yielded a variety of cleaning supplies as well as some more foodstuffs luckily segregated to their own areas properly. However, the only real food there was canned soup, a lime, and a bag of potatoes. Judy twitched her nose, finally going to the refrigerator. She had been avoiding this, as the handle was a foot above her head.

The spunky lapin solved her problem by jumping to the handle of the fridge, hanging from it as her tiny form slowly swung back and forth eventually gaining enough momentum to pull the heavy door open. Cool air rushed over her as she inspected her findings. This was more like it. There were a variety of fruits, a head of lettuce, a plethora of condiments, and… Judy blanched, gulping and shaking her head. Meat, of course there was. Foxes couldn't have a proper diet without it. Some kind of salmon stared back at her, and on another shelf a smaller portion of an indiscriminate red meat. The rabbit officer felt a bit sick to her stomach. She really did need to read up on foxes more, it would help her to not get so many wonderful little surprises. Though, this one was common sense if she really had thought about it.

Judy opted for a vegetarian option, her hands skirting as far from the meat as it could. Nick would have to prepare it himself if he wanted that stuff, the bunny wasn't exactly that comfortable being around it. She gathered a pineapple, some nuts from the spices rack, some strawberries, and the head of lettuce from the fridge. After a bit more struggling with the furniture, the rabbit managed to clamber up to the counter and remove a fox-sized knife from a drawer, being careful not to hurt herself with the added weight behind it as she worked making a light salad. She finished two plates of it by dousing hers in perhaps a bit too much vinaigrette, but that was how she liked it. The other she left bare, waiting for her partner as she set the food on the table.

The rabbit was in the middle of pouring both of them another glass of water when Nick emerged from the bathroom, judging by the steam cloud. Judy had to stifle a chuckle. His shirt was on backwards and inside-out, but there was no way he could really know that.

"You look a lot better, Nick," she addressed him, helping him slowly find his way back to the kitchen/dining room.

The fox nodded, smiling. "Feeling a lot better too, Carrots." His eyes were partially open now, but what was visible was incredibly bloodshot.

"Can you see anything?" She asked, suddenly worried that she would have to feed him.

"Blurry shapes, if I don't mind my eyes slowly sizzling," he smirked, sitting at the chair he was provided.

"Better than before..." her nose twitched as she suddenly caught a hint of lavender on the air, no, honeysuckle maybe? She sniffed at it, trying to determine the source of that wonderful smell, and quickly found herself drifting toward the fox struggling to find his silverware. There was another smell this close too, something more basal. It seemed familiar but she couldn't describe what it was or where it was coming from. For some reason it made her think of Nick, so she figured maybe it was some sort of product he used on his fur beyond his obvious honeysuckle shampoo. It wasn't unpleasant, rather somewhat nice, a bit like the mist in the morning with just a hint of the lavender she had been detecting earlier. Her body had a strange reaction to it though, it made her feel… she shook her head to clear it, ears slapping against Nick's side.

"What was that, Fluff?"

"Oh, sorry. Do you need help with that?" She pointed to his food, then realized that might not really suffice. "Your food, I mean?"

Nick chuckled. "I think I can eat without having a bunny do it for me, I did manage not to break my neck in the shower after all."

Judy nodded, then watched as the fox took a bite of the untreated leaves.

"Oh, I forgot. Rabbit. Do you mind if I put dressing on mine Carrots? Or would that be offensive to your culture?"

The lapin bit her lip, looking at her own drenched plate, he could do without knowing about that particular embarrassing quirk for now. "It's better tasting and better for you if you just have it plain, there's already enough fruit on the plate after all," she scolded him, trying not to let her grin be detectable in her voice.

"Alright Hopps, but only this once." He smiled, starting to slowly devour his salad plain.

Judy pursed her lips at that, looking down at her food. Oh well. The rabbit devoured her meal, she had been hungry after skipping lunch to stay with Nick at the hospital, not wanting to leave his side for a proper meal until he woke up.

The vulpine finished his meal as she watched and he got up, slowly feeling with his feet to the counter, setting his plate aside and finding the sink with his paws, pushing the plate into it. "Well, thank you very much for the meal, fluff. Sorry that I don't have much to snack on, and definitely no carrots, but help yourself to whatever, I've got cable on the TV in here, as well as Howlu, so feel free to have fun with that. I know I'm being no fun, but honestly I just want to sleep until I can see again. Try not to get too lonely without me, okay? And if you do, you know where to find me."

Judy nodded, then turned very scarlet as the fox began to walk towards the farthest door in the room, stumbling a few times. Had he just invited her to-

"Oh, that probably came out really, really wrong, didn't it? I mean like if you want to talk or something," he amended, holding his temples, then quickly retreating and closing the door to his room while the rabbit placed her own dinnerware in the sink. She rinsed them, then finally after a few moments decided against leaving the dishes for later, washing them more fully.

It was strange for Nick to be so quiet like he was after the shower, but she figured that he was probably tired after the day he had been through, not to mention embarrassed. He shouldn't have to be afraid to tell her stuff like that, the rabbit thought to herself. Even if it was a little personal… or rather, very by the sound of it, she hoped that he could trust her with things like that. She hadn't reacted too poorly, had she? Poor guy, it's not like it was his fault, and being single it was likely a lot harder for him to deal with that.

Judy stopped suddenly as a thought crossed her mind. Maybe that's why he was single, because she was always hanging around him. The lapin gulped guiltily as she remembered that Nick had been so resistant to being looked after by her. Sure, it could be because of his heat, but maybe the fox had had something planned, or worse, was trying to reduce the amount of time he was seen with another female so prospective mates didn't get the wrong idea. She could have been snubbing his love life this entire time without knowing it, not to mention that the media always put them together in reports, perhaps people were getting the wrong idea. Yet at the same time the rabbit, for reasons she just couldn't determine she felt somewhat protective of the fox. Him having a girlfriend would likely only lead to more conflict, something he didn't need.

Hopps walked to the couch in the main area of the fairly open apartment, that was where she would be sleeping. Nick had insisted she take the bed, talking about changing the sheets and everything for her, but Judy would not have it that the injured one would be forced to take a couch to sleep on. Plus, she kinda liked big chairs. Being a bunny there were normally plenty around, and a couch was like that.

The rabbit hopped in one bound onto the seat, laying back, her ears flopping down over the pillow. She pulled her phone out, craning her neck as she checked to make sure that her bag was still by the door where she had left it. It was and she debated getting up, finally fighting the urge to simply fall asleep in her uniform.

Judy showered, coming back out in a towel to get her things and moving back to the bathroom to change into something more suited for sleep, in this case a tank top and flannel bottoms. The bunny flopped out over the couch again once everything had been folded and readied for the next day, checking her phone again. This time there was a text message waiting for her from one of her sisters, Samantha. Judy sighed. She hadn't seen Sam in nearly two months, they did occasionally talk though. Samantha had always been fairly spunky herself, not much unlike the lapin on the couch, but she was a bit more abrasive. She was athletic, pretty, and confident, something that commonly had the local male rabbits of Bunnyburrow falling over themselves in hope for a date that would likely never come. Judy loved her as a sister, but she could certainly get on her nerves.

The rabbit unlocked her phone, reading the message quickly.

 _Hey, what's up?_

Judy quickly sent a greeting back, wondering what her sister could want.

 _Just settling down for today, hard day at work and all the usual excuses._

 _Yeah, I heard. Well, overheard really when you were talking to mom and dad._

Judy frowned, typing back, _Oh, that. Yeah, I wish they didn't treat Nick like that, I'm sure they'll get over it though._

There was a longer pause before the doe's response. _Well you certainly gave them a shock, me too honestly, and that's hard to do sis. Good work._

Again, the lapin frowned. Her talking care of her friend shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. _I mean I'm gonna take care of him, we are partners after all._

Another even longer pause, then, _In more ways than one now I guess. I mean, how do you even manage that though, aren't there size issues?_

Judy's forehead wrinkled as she thought that over. _I mean, I guess. Stuff in his apartment is a lot bigger than I'm used to but I have to deal with that a lot in Zootopia._

 _Oh, so you're even living with him too?_

 _Just until he gets better._ Judy noticed that her answers were getting a bit shorter as the couch slowly beckoned her to sleep.

 _Well I gotta say Judy, I think you even out-crazy me on this one. Good luck with your fox, though I'm sure he's very satisfying._ _Maybe share him sometime? ; )_

Judy blinked, realizing what her sister was assuming, and pulled her ears down over her face as she realized that her conversation with her parents before likely had the entire family assuming something similar. "Oh sugar..."

She frantically typed back, _I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH HIM, HE'S JUST INJURED FROM WORK TODAY._

 _I dunno Jude, you made it sound pretty clear over the call._

 _I know that it sounded odd but I didn't know-_ Judy thought, if her sister learned that she didn't know what a heat cycle was she would never let her live it down, especially with a fox partner. She revised her proposed message. _I know that i_ _t_ _sounded odd but it's been a long day, tell mom and dad that too, it probably sounded a lot like that but that's not happening, no way._

 _Whatever you say~_ Her sister shot back, and Hopps held her head in her hands. This was worse than police PR, and that was a nightmare most of the time. She sent back a final message attempting to reassure her sister of the situation, then opened her mother's contact info.

 _Hey mom! s_ he started, _Really sorry about earlier, but it's been a really long day. I just wanted to let you and dad know that Nick and I are just friends, we're not doing anything weird or whatever. I thought that he had seasonal allergies, but now I know what's actually bothering him and trust me I won't be helping at least directly with that! Sorry for the confusion!_ The lapin sent the message, crossing her fingers that they would believe her. She had been thinking about taking Nick back to her hometown sometime soon since the fox never seemed to take a day off, and would rather get this resolved before such a trip to avoid the embarrassment that would follow.

Judy set her phone aside, sighing and laying back against her makeshift bed. She spotted a bit of orange-red fur stuck to an inner cushion and chuckled, she would probably be covered by morning. Her nose twitched as she also detected a very distinct misty lavender smell, her mind immediately shooting to thoughts of Nick. Her body naturally curled backwards into its source, slowly pressing harder into the cushions as she breathed it in, mind slowly going blank. She felt so comfortable, so safe and protected… Her eyes closed.

Judy groaned, it was too hot, not only that but there was something gritty digging into her fur. She tried to brush it off, but only more came, and she finally opened her eyes.

Warm sand surrounded her, blowing everywhere as the rabbit stood. She must have passed out in Sahara Square earlier during the chase, but she didn't remember there being a sandstorm. The rabbit officer raised a paw to cover her eyes, feeling something heavy and metallic in it.

"Hopps!"

Her ears shot up as she recognized Nick's voice, oh no, Nick! He'd been hurt, she could even hear the same rasping and coughing as right after he'd been sprayed. She dashed forward, but the strong winds of the storm slowed her progress to a virtual crawl, battering her back as sand filled every crevice of her outfit, irritating her ears, eyes, and nose, making her practically blind.

"Judy!"

She assessed where he was, finally managing to strike up a better pace to where she thought he must be. The rabbit started to panic despite her training. Low visibility was a death sentence when there was an armed suspect, and her legs fought the air with powerful strokes. Her radio was gone, she must have left it behind in the sand where she had fallen for a short time. No backup either, that's okay. All she had to do was get Nick into shelter, he'd be okay. Her heart started to race.

"Judy!"

Again, a call for help, this time she responded against her best tactical instincts. "Nick, I'm coming! Just stay with me!" Her voice broke as she yelled into the wind, praying that her shouting carried well enough to reach her injured companion. She coughed, eyes burning as sand caked the edges of her face. "I'm right-" her ears shot up as she heard a horrific noise, a harsh, explosive cracking that seemed to shake the air around her. She knew that noise from her training. Gunfire.

There was a grating, guttural series of yelps that followed each blast, and Judy screamed. "Nick!" her vocal cords felt like they would tear out, and her head pounded suddenly with the weight of the sand. Her eyes were wet now, facilitating more of the blistering sand to deposit itself in her lashes. There was nothing but silence now, and she let out a guttural scream again past the pain, panicking. "NICK!"

"Carrots, I'm right here! Calm down!"

Judy's eyes shot open. Nick was standing over her, wearing nothing but his boxers. The room was dark. He had his hands on her shoulders and was shaking her. The rabbit darted her eyes from side to side, heart pounding.

"Judy! What's happening?"

The lapin officer's gaze locked onto his eyes, her pupils tiny dots. "Nick…" she choked out past tears, then launched herself into his chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his front.

"Woah, easy there Carrots…" He held his hands up first, then dropped one to pet the bunny's head, the other wrapping around her back. "It's okay Judy, you're okay..."

Judy sniffled as she let her tears slowly wet his fur, finally pulling herself together as she rubbed the last of the moisture from her eyes. "Y-You're okay?"

The fox smiled at that and rubbed her head again affectionately. "I'm fine, I mean my eyes still hurt a little but I can see much better now that it's dark, and I think that fox-away is finally starting to wear off. I can even smell a little bit."

The rabbit blushed a bit as she realized that she was squeezing him pretty harshly, and let go slowly, not wanting to lose the reassurance of him being there. "G-Good..." She was still shaking, her little body pumping with the adrenaline of fear.

Nick's eyes were most of the way open now and he looked, to say the least, extremely concerned. "Carrots, what happened?"

"Bad dream..." She explained hoarsely, noting that her voice was almost gone.

"Yeah, I'd bet… you were screaming my name over and over, something about sand?"

Judy nodded, whimpering, her ears flattened against her back. "You were hurt and I couldn't get to you in time and you… you… s-somebody-" she started to tear up again and the much larger fox pulled her closer, pressing her head to his chest. She breathed in his warm scent, her heart finally starting to calm as she pressed to him, her hands taking fistfuls of his fur and slowly grabbing at him lightly.

"Hey… I'm okay Judy, I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, fox-away or not. Alright?" The fox slowly pet her head, letting her knead at him. His soft tail slowly wrapped up and curled around her. It helped even more. She knew that he was very protective of it and the act of trust was comforting, but not nearly as much as having him close, being able to take in his aroma.

The lapin nodded, closing her eyes and finally slowly prying herself off of him. "Thank you Nick…"

The red fox smiled gently. "Hey, no problem fluff. Just uh, try not to wake the neighbors next time?"

There was a knock at the door and both sets of ears in the room shot up, eyes darting to the entrance way.

"Sir, this is the ZPD, please open the door."

Nick stood, taking a deep breath. "Now that, I did not expect." Judy's own eyes widened at the concept, had she been that loud? Her partner walked to the door unlocking it and slowly opening it, revealing officer Wolfard.

"Nick?" His head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Yeah big guy, this is where I live." The fox gave a dry chuckle.

The wolf peered over his shoulder into the room, his head cocking the other way. "And Judy? Ohhh that's right, sorry about that, forgot you got maced today… err, yesterday I guess, Nick. So, she's looking after you?"

The vulpine nodded. "You do have a job you know. Mind telling me why the police are here?"

Wolfard smiled at that. "Well, the police already were here, but now there's one more." It drew a laugh from the rabbit in the room behind Nick, and the on-duty officer at the door seemed to relax a bit at that. "So, you're both not like, being murdered or anything? Specifically you, Hopps?"

Judy frowned, wiping her eyes one last time as she padded up to the door. "No, of course not. Why?"

The wolf at the door nervously shifted his collar. "We got reports from civilians that apparently 'sounded like a bunny was being butchered alive'. You seem to not be very butchered, so I'm not too worried about it, but would you two try to uh, keep it down if you're gonna do any 'activities'? I know that Nick's well… 'active' right now, but try to remember that you two have neighbors..." He was slightly flushed, obviously not wanting to have this talk but required by law to do so

Judy turned scarlet again, babbling quickly. "Oh no no I-I was having a bad dream and thought that Nick got hurt again and I was scared it wasn't anything like that I promise!" She wasn't sure why she had to promise him, but it felt like it would help.

Wolford let out a tense breath, nodding quickly. "Oh god okay, sorry for assuming. Just kinda figured since you guys were always hanging out and… you know what? I'm just gonna get going, have a good night, you two." The officer shut the door quickly to hide his embarrassment.

Judy sighed and turned back to the couch, slowly padding back over to it with her partner in tow, clambering back onto it. She looked down, rolling her eyes. Of course, she was also absolutely covered in red fur from her time sleeping on it and especially her near-tackle of Nick after. The fox started to walk back to his room and Judy watched him go, starting at his back as the door closed. Her heart sped up again as she lost sight of him, afraid for a moment that he was gone, but she just barely managed to snap herself out of it, distracting herself with some quiet television as she drifted to sleep, his scent on the couch lulling her to rest.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:**_

 _Hey there! I'm not quite dead yet after all. In fact I'm really enjoying writing all this still, unfortunately this chapter is going to be about a page shorter than usual and also (as you may have noticed) a few days late! I am very sorry for the break in programming, but I was attending something for college and had car troubles on the way home, all which got in the way of me posting this in a timely matter. (So much for "Oh you'll have enough time, no need to edit it the weekend before")_

 _Regardless, I'm going to probably be posting a bit of a longer one next chapter to make up for this and to catch us up to the point that I actually have written. I really appreciate the feedback, I've gotten some wonderful compliments and very constructive criticism (which I appreciate so so so much)._

 _As for our furry friends, thank goodness there's been enough deus ex machina (if that's even being used correctly in this case) to save them from talking too in depth about their more primal urges. Though, Judy will likely have to talk a little more to her parents about just what is going on, and her sister certainly seems to be a stubborn one. At least Nick can see again!_

 _I hope you enjoy the story, see you next week!_

 _ **I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly).**_

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Judy awoke later in the morning than usual. Her normal routine was to be up and dressed by 5:45 but today her body didn't even bother trying to rouse her until 6:30, likely due to her waking halfway through the night. The bunny stretched, yawning slowly, and cuddled up into the large seat that was currently her bed. She was never like this, a thought that dimly drifted through her mind, but something about this particular seat was just so comfortable that she couldn't bear to leave it for a few minutes. She drifted in and out of consciousness slowly. Soon enough, the rabbit's sensitive hearing detected a loud 'THUMP' and Nick emerged from his room, rubbing the top of his head.

"Morning Carrots," he mumbled out, making a beeline for the refrigerator and pouring himself a glass of something carbonated. The bunny could see in the light that made its way through the one window of the apartment that his eyes were still somewhat bloodshot, but looking a lot better than the scarlet before. The fox stumbled to the bathroom and showered quickly, and by the time he had emerged Judy had dressed in a spare change of clothes she had brought along from her own home in anticipation for the stay. Today it was a pair of jeans and a pink button-up, not unlike the outfit she had worn the day she had returned to Zootopia during the Nighthowler case. The lapin was about to suggest that they go out for breakfast when her phone rang, both of the partners' ears flicking to the source of the noise.

"Someone important?" Nick inquired, slowly padding into his room amd continuing the conversation by half-calling.

Judy bounced to her device, her brow darkening. "Yeah, actually," she called back, then picked up the phone. "Chief, what do you need?"

Bogo's rumbling voice filled the receiver from the other end of the line. "Hopps, are you still with Wilde?"

The bunny officer nodded, then after several seconds of awkward dead air realized that the phone couldn't detect the motion of her head. She had a bad habit of doing things like that. "Uh, I mean, yes Chief!"

"Good! I need you two to come in today, I don't care how high Wilde might be on whatever pain meds they gave him."

"Actually sir, he's doing it without med-"

"Quiet!"

Judy flinched, even on the phone the huge bovine could be intimidating.

"Just meet me here at ten o'clock. We've already got a PR nightmare what with the media swarming all over their favorite cops being injured, so don't be late," he growled out, slamming the phone down.

The rabbit winced again and frowned, her ears falling to her back. She could tell by her excellent hearing that Nick was still in his room doing… something? Probably changing, judging by the amount of cloth scuffling going on, and she was confirmed in her suspicion as he emerged in a pair of khakis, a pawaiian shirt, and a loosely-knotted tie that hung around his neck. Judy's face fell at his attire, and she hoped he was still blind enough to not see it.

"Something wrong with my face, Carrots? Cut myself shaving?" he padded towards her with a smirk.

The bunny's ears burned as she pushed her freshly-charged phone into her pocket. So much for that. "You haven't even tried, have you?"

The fox's brow scrunched up in confusion. "Tried what, fluff? Shaving? Not for me I gotta say, really doesn't look to great with the whole fur thing and all-"

"No, you dumb fox, your wardrobe! I thought I talked to you about this! I mean, Pawaiian shirts? What are you, a dad on vacation?" The bunny tapped her foot in frustration, she had been over this with her partner in the past, even got him to dress like he wasn't some sort of philistine for a few days, but it looked like that was over.

Nick sighed, exasperated. "Fluff, I just got fox-away'd. You can pick on my outfit some day where my eyes aren't still slightly burning. Plus..." he raised an eyebrow smugly, "I know that you love this look."

Judy's ears burned as he addressed her, he was right of course, how was he so good at this? Was she getting hustled somehow? Why was she so flustered suddenly? "A-Anyway! Chief Bogo called, he wants us to come in."

The fox immediately groaned. "Oh come on, I got a doctor's note and everything, it's like high school all over again."

The bunny cop rolled her eyes, grabbing her partner's paw to guide him towards the door. "It's just for an interview or something probably, apparently the public is worried about you, Nick." She smiled genuinely at that, but the fox only shrugged it off with his usual sarcasm.

"Great, paparazzi flashes are so great on the eyes." It got a laugh out of both of them, and that's all that mattered to him.

The pair took the bus to the center of the city, and Judy was surprised by how long of a commute it was from Nick's house to work every day, back and forth. The fox seemed not to mind, likely a symptom of his laid-back attitude. They stopped for breakfast at a cafe across from the police station that specialized in fruit of various kinds, exotic included. Nick picked something with starfruit, but found that it wasn't really to his liking when heated. Judy ended up eating most of it, offering him her blueberry pancakes as reparations. He didn't have much trouble downing those, but did complain that the heavenly taste of the meal was dulled somewhat by his only half-functioning nose.

Bogo was waiting for them when Nick opened the door to his office at 9:55, and didn't seem in the mood to delay until the official meeting time. "Hopps! Wilde! I understand this is a day off for both of you, and I apologize for bringing you in on it, but we need you to verify some details of Ms. Woolson's case." The chief had an open file on his desk, and both of the officers could guess whose it was.

Judy nodded, her partner slowly itching his nose. "Yeah, that's what I figured it would be about. That's the lamb's name?" Her eyes darkened slowly as she remembered that the girl in question was responsible for attacking her partner, but she kept her anger reserved for the moment.

Bogo looked through the file, as if he hadn't already several times in the past hour. "Indeed. Ms. Woolson or Lucy Woolson, daughter of architect Grant Woolson, was stabbed yesterday during an attempted mugging as you two know. Now, she has since recovered well enough and stopped panicking for long enough to give us some details, but they are sparse at best. I'm just going to-"

Nick's ears perked up, and he interrupted suddenly. "Wait, you just said that's Grant Woolson's kid?"

Bogo started to inhale in order to deliver what was likely a 'quiet', 'shut up', or 'can it', but stopped suddenly. "Uh, yes. Yes, that's exactly what I said. Maybe if you were listening-" he began to raise his voice but was cut off by the fox again.

"Like, the billionaire Grant Woolson, like, guy who designed _this building_ Woolson?" Judy pursed her lips, Nick knew that the chief didn't enjoy being interrupted, the bunny had a feeling that maybe he was taking his friendly ribbing a bit too far.

"YES!" Bogo shouted at the fox, then, against his better judgment, "Why do you ask, Officer Wilde, do you have a lead?"

Nick frowned for a moment, then responded. "Honestly? No, I'm just kinda surprised I got fox-away'd by royalty," the chief planted a hoof against his own face and began to speak, but Nick continued, "But, it does give us some sort of motive for the mugging, or at least an explanation. I mean, the girl's probably worth a few million dollars. It would make sense that if you're going to mug anyone go for someone with more pocket change jingling around. Funny though, why was she even in that part of Sahara Square? I mean, it wasn't a slum or anything, but hardly the uptown that she'd probably spend most of her time in."

The massive bovine at the desk decided to let Nick's outbursts slide, a fact that made Judy lean back, somewhat impressed with the fox. Bogo nodded to him, settling back into his chair. "Those are some good questions, but you two are not detectives. All I want to do is cross-reference your story with the one that I have from the lamb, okay?"

Both of the officers nodded and the chief sighed, relieved. "Thank you. Now, at 10:34 yesterday Lucy claims that she was walking through a fenced off alley near the bazaar district in Sahara Square, is that location accurate?"

Judy nodded, and Nick followed suit after a moment of thinking.

"Good. At 10:38, she was approached by a gray Fox with hints of red coloration up and down his muzzle, wearing a black turtleneck. She could not confirm what he was wearing from the waist down, as she does not remember well enough to make a statement… you two?"

The rabbit officer pursed her lips, looking at Nick and then back to the Chief. "I'm afraid we don't know sir, we never actually saw the suspect. I investigated the alleyway that we saw her run out of, but by the time that I did no one was there, then, well, you know the rest." Judy bit her lip, of course the attacker had been a fox. If not, then why would she have sprayed Nick? Then again, the bunny had seen a plethora of dumber things done by panicked civilians. Nick, for his part, started slightly when the chief mentioned the species of the assailant. He shifted his feet, appearing decidedly uneasy.

Bogo nodded. "Understandable, you were busy helping the wounded lamb, I presume?"

This time the rabbit shifted. "Uh, yes sir," she lied. It really was stupid of her to worry about Nick before the potentially mortally wounded lamb, but at the same time, she could justify it. Nick was her partner, he did so much for her, and some crazy billionaire brat decided to pepper spray him. Of course she was going to worry about her friend before said brat.

"Good thinking Hopps, lives before arrests." The compliment felt dirty on Judy's ears. "Anyway, several minutes later at 10:41, Ms. Woolson was stabbed with a seven-inch blade hunting knife just under her ribs on the right side of her body. The wound, while only really a large scratch, resulted in significant blood loss. She claims that a minor struggle over her bag had occurred and in order to make her let go of it, the criminal utilized the weapon. She, of course, let go and stumbled toward the fence, bleeding from her side."

The fox and rabbit nodded, they hadn't been there for this part, so had to assume the victim's report was truthful and accurate until a more in-depth investigation could happen.

"Okay, so this is where you two come in. She passed the fence, not being pursued by her attacker at around 10:42. She noted the two uniformed, on-duty ZPD officers. However, upon seeing Nick, she mistook him for her attacker and began to flee, pulling her fox-away out of her pocket. Both officer Wilde and Hopps began to pursue h-"

"Wait a second, if she had fox-away on her that whole time, why didn't she use it?"

Bogo actually stopped speaking, and Judy's head shot to watch her partner. "You're right Nick, did she mention that at all, Chief?"

Even the Buffalo looked confused now. "No, no she did not..." He frowned, pursing his lips as he closed the file on his desk. "You know Wilde, these cross-examinations are supposed to be routine, but I think you might have just managed to make one halfway interesting."

The fox took the praise in stride. "Well, that is if she wasn't being held down by her assailant in a position that she wasn't able to reach her pocket, but in that case I would've thought she'd be dead. Then again, it likely wasn't the perp's motive to kill her, just get her bag. Why use such a big knife then-? You know what Chief, I'm really not liking this story much anymore."

Bogo stroked his chin slowly. "And neither am I. Well, either way it's not like she's going anywhere for a few days, so we've got plenty of time to iron out those kinks. Who knows, maybe she's still delirious. This kind of emotional and even physical trauma can do that to some mammals."

Nick shrugged, and Judy finally found it possible to drag her gaze away from her partner's visage. If she wasn't impressed before, then she certainly was now. Her face twisted into a grin. "Sly fox..."

Nick raised an eyebrow, peering down at her smugly. "Dumb lamb."

Judy punched him in the arm on the way out.

"Ow! What was that for this time, fluff? I mean, keep at it and I'll have a broken arm too!" He pouted, rubbing his bruised limb.

"Good work in there slick, I think you made an impression on the chief," she nudged him again.

"Ow, Yeah, well don't be too certain, Bogo's as stubborn as a rock," he deflected, mumbling slightly.

"Well, if it counts you certainly made an impression on me..." The bunny trailed off, smiling gently at her partner.

Nick walked with her in silence for a few moments before saying anything, his mouth opening and closing a few times without success. "Thanks, carrots. I appreciate it." He smiled genuinely, and for once his usual smug grin of his was only the second the brightest part of Judy's day.

"Mr. Wilde, are you recovering well after the attack?"

"Well, do loud noises and camera flashes still hurt? Yes, yes they do." The pair of officers shared a knowing smile as they managed their way through the paparazzi. Since they were technically off duty they didn't have any real authority to claim that the group was obstructing justice, but luckily they were only famous enough to have a relatively small group of cameramen and women around them. That is, or maybe they were famous enough to have more but several were scared off in some capacity by the occasional snide quips from Nick about their current legal standing.

Judy pulled her partner along, and once they had finally managed to separate themselves from the crowd she spoke again. "So, what do you do for fun around here?"

Nick had to think for a moment on that. "Well, I mean I play cards with Finnick sometimes..." he mentioned, scratching an ear.

The rabbit chuckled at that, ribbing her partner with an arm. "I mean like out here on the town, like average Friday night stuff, etc.?" she inquired as the pair wandered into the small park across from the police station.

Nick pursed his lips, tugging on an ear. "I mean it carrots, I know a lot of people but well… I'm usually busy with you on Friday nights watching a movie or something. And plus, I don't know them like I know you, Fluff."

Judy felt her ears heat up at that, looking away embarrassedly. "I uh… sorry." She felt bad, suddenly realizing that maybe she had been smothering her partner a bit. Once again, she got the sinking feeling that she had been interrupting his social life. Had they really been hanging out that much? Probably, she admitted. She had other friends, maybe she could lay off her vulpine partner for a little while… then again, all of those friends either lived in Bunnyburrow or she met through Nick and were more friends through association.

"Don't worry about it Carrots, I like doing that stuff, never been a huge pawball fan or anything like that." The fox shot her a reassuring smile that helped a little bit, but not enough to put her totally at ease. "How about we just head back to my place and watch some dumb show or something, okay?"

Judy nodded at that, her ears returning to a chipper position above her head. "Okay!"

The team of officers made their way back to Nick's via the nearly hour-long network of bus routes. Upon returning to the dim den, the rabbit couldn't help but comment as she moved to the wall outlet near the kitchen, plugging in her phone. "How do you deal with that commute every day Nick? I mean, I'm sure you could afford a nicer place, we do make a pretty good salary after all."

The fox shrugged, simply plopping down onto the couch in front of the television that Hopps had been using as a bed. "I mean, I didn't really plan on being a cop until an unintentional job shadow left me just aching for more..." he noted smugly.

Judy rolled her eyes, checking her phone quickly for messages. There was one from her parents and she took a deep breath, remembering the state that she had left that conversation in. She could deal with it later, she decided, putting the phone down and scrambling onto the couch with Nick.

"So, any preference on the show, Carrots?"

The rabbit officer nodded. "Paw and order, please."

Nick smirked, raising an eyebrow in one of his favorite expressions at his partner. "First of all, we're cops, so I don't know what gives you such a desire to watch something like that. Second, you forgot to invite me to your seventieth birthday party."

Again, the lapin rolled her eyes. "We can watch Special Vixens Unit if you really want to ya big lug, I know you have a crush on that one SWAT arctic that makes a cameo every few episodes."

Nick felt his cheeks heat up. "Do not! Plus, it's a little hard to have a crush on anyone when every episode is about some kind of sexual assault, ugh."

Judy wouldn't let this one go, smiling smugly as she ribbed her partner. "Oh really now? I guess I should have taken a picture of your face when you first saw her! You looked ravenous, slick."

The fox's ears fell back, and his tail curled back behind him slowly, away from the rabbit. "Really Carrots, it's not like-"

"Did you know that the actress who plays her lives a few blocks down?" Judy interrupted, smirking.

"She does?" Nick's eyes widened and his ears perked up instantly, his tail starting to slowly swish back and forth.

The lapin punched him in the arm, laughing. "No, but don't you wish she did!" The fox pouted and rubbed his battered arm as the bunny continued, letting her voice drop to a mock flirt. "I mean, she's probably all lonely between shoots, and just around this time of year I'm sure she'd just be begging for some big, strong, handsome fox hunk like you Nick..." She fluttered her eyelids in mock seduction.

Wilde rolled his eyes, still half-pouting. "Yeah, not like me at all. Plus, most foxes go for witty and agile over giant bodybuilder," he managed to save some of his pride with that.

The bunny nodded, then frowned. Nick probably was a hunk then by fox standards, he certainly had the wit, if it was a bit dry for some tastes, and police training had shaped him into quite the agile specimen. She had always wanted to touch his side to see if he was as toned as he looked. Then without thinking did, poking his abdomen. There was some significant resistance after the fur gave way. The bunny nodded gently. He was extremely well muscled, really.

"Uhh, something you need, Hopps?" Nick was staring down at her, his cheeks looking a little pinker than the usual red as Judy prodded his abs.

"Oh! Sorry!" she squeaked, pulling her finger back and scrambling to her side of the couch, "just kinda spaced out." She laughed nervously, kneading her paws.

The toned fox kept right on blushing, turning back to the TV as he couldn't stop his tail from gracefully gliding back and forth slowly. "We can watch Paw and Order: Special Vixens Unit if you like Judy, and I promise not to gawk at Rachel."

The rabbit seized on the opportunity to deflect her own embarrassment. "You know her name?! Nick, she shows up for like twenty seconds a season!" Judy laughed, making Nick go an even darker shade of red.

"At least I pay attention to the show..." he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So do I, they never have even said her name to this point!" The rabbit was grinning, she was enjoying this thoroughly, especially on how well it had deflected her unintended violation of the fox's personal space.

"They say it in the credits!" Nick shot back, then realized that wasn't really a good thing to admit.

"Nick, that's actually kinda… cute? I guess?" Judy was still laughing, but she held back from making fun of the vulpine any more about it, knowing he was embarrassed already.

The fox sighed, frowning. "Yeah, or just weird and creepy. I mean, not like I'd actually meet her or anything..."

I hope not, thought a part of Judy suddenly. She had a feeling that meeting would go better than Nick anticipated, and something in her desperately wanted that not to happen. "Well I think you'll meet someone like that at least, someone who's pretty and makes you happy. Maybe you already have even and just don't know it," she offered in support.

Nick looked at her strangely, his lips parted slightly. "Judy…" Then, he shook his head, sinking back into the sofa, grabbing a brush from nearby to groom his tail with. His eyes dropped, ears going with them slightly. "Maybe I do know, but it would never work…" he mumbled.

The rabbit's ears perked slightly at that, easily catching his speech that, to most, would have been inaudible. "Oh Nick..." Judy leaned over, crawling back to her partner and putting her hand over his. He jumped at that, not noticing her approaching, and let her after a moment of trying to pull away gently. "Who is it…?" Her eyes were wide with worry.

The fox started to open his mouth, but then closed it again, sighing. He looked almost physically in pain as he finally pulled his gaze away from her. "I can't tell you." He finally spoke after the painful silence, staring at the blank TV screen.

The rabbit nodded not wanting to push her partner too hard, but at the same time that made it hurt all the more. Why couldn't he trust her with it? She bit back the question, gently squeezing his paw, prompting him to look at her again. She was still worried, he could tell, if not more so than before, but he couldn't risk everything just for the sake of ending this torturous moment, as much as he wanted to. The alternative could be so much worse.

"Nick, I'm sure that whoever it is probably feels the same way, deep down. You're a very attractive fox you know, and under that one of the sweetest people I know." Much to Judy's dismay, her partner didn't perk up at that. In fact he sucked in a heavy breath, blushing an even deeper shade of scarlet as he tugged his paw away from the bunny.

"Thanks Carrots, really… I'm gonna… I gotta take a shower real quick, okay? How about you start without me?"

Judy's ears fell at that, dropping to her back as she whimpered. He still looked miserable, if not even worse than before. Did she say something wrong? She quickly bounced off the couch, following Nick as he started to the bathroom. "W-Wait n-no Nick!" She saw flashes of the police department, the sight of that fox walking away from her for the first time back during the Nighthowler case, and her eyes filled with tears against her greatest efforts.

The vulpine spun around as he heard her voice break and his eyes widened, ears also falling back when he noticed the mess of a bunny behind him. His warm, fluffy tail slowly curled around Judy's back as he reached out for her, holding her head to his chest as he pet her slowly. "Come here… there… Judy… I'll be okay, alright? I'm fine, just… remember that I'm gonna be acting a little weird for a bit, okay?" The fox almost purred out his words, his paws slowly stroking the back of the bunny's tiny head.

Judy sniffled, hiccuping as she nodded. She wiped her tears on his front again. "I'm sorry I… I don't know what came over me…" She wasn't only surprised that she remembered that horrible moment of losing her friend so well, something that she had hoped to bury as a distant memory, but she also didn't remember just how strong of an emotion was tied to it.

Nick nodded, dropping to a crouch to look into her eyes. He carefully placed his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to apologize Fluff, and don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He finally smiled as he said that and Judy blushed, nodding in return.

"Thanks… Sorry…"

The vulpine ruffled her ears with one hand. "Ah, no 'sorry's, remember? And I'm gonna go shower now, I'll be right out afterward."

Judy nodded slowly, her ears gently picking back up as the fox got back on his paws, moving to the bathroom. She wasn't really sure why he needed to shower again, but her ears picked up the sound of running water after some time. She blushed a bit guiltily, it was odd that now that she was more awake she could pick up more of what was going on in the bathroom, not wanting to invade the fox's privacy. Oh well, not like he really had anything to hide from her in there that wasn't visual. Or hopefully even that, some unconscious part of her body offered, but she viciously stomped that thought out quickly.

The rabbit busied herself making the two of them lunch, not wanting to start the show without Nick. Again, she pouted at the poor selection of food and ingredients available, the fox must eat out a lot or something. Either that or the meals he was eating would have been the meat on the shelves above, but she wasn't really comfortable with cooking that. This time she decided upon a fruit salad, thinking for a moment that maybe she should learn to make more than various salad varieties, then shrugged after a moment. She could always learn some other time.

Her ears twitched suddenly as she thought she heard something, then settled, then a moment later again perked. She sniffed at the air, not detecting anything out of the ordinary, and went back to preparing the salad.

"Judy-"

There, she was sure she heard it that time! Her eyes shot to the door of the bathroom, that was Nick's voice. It was hardly detectable over the sound of running water, and seemed to be almost panted out.

"Nick?" she called out, and it took her a second to hear any answer.

"Yeah Carrots? Kinda busy!" he called back, considerably louder.

"You okay? I though I heard you say my name or something?" She prepped a few dishes with the fruit she had arranged, setting them on the table. This time it took much longer for the fox to say anything. "Nick?"

"Uh yeah, just was… showering, thinking out loud I guess!" he finally responded, and the bunny heard the fox shuffling quickly. The water turned off again after a few minutes and he came out, drying the fur on his head with a towel. His ears looked lopsided as they were uncovered from under the cloth and they twitched quickly, trying to right themselves.

"Feel free to shower by the way, forgot to mention that yesterday. What's mine is yours and all that for the time being."

Judy rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. As if that didn't come a little late to mention. "Well I'll be sure to take you up on that before I leave, are you feeling good enough to not need me poking around your stuff anymore?"

Nick seemed to think for a moment, nodding finally with some hesitation. "I guess I am, Fluff, but I gotta say it's been wonderful letting you eat all of my food."

The rabbit clapped her hands together. "Of course! I'd do it anytime, and if you get lonely over the weekend you know what to do! Which means I expect a call by Saturday, Mr. Wilde. Also speaking of food, perhaps we could have a final meal together?"

"I think I would rather enjoy that, Hopps."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:**_

 _This one's a bit longer than the others by about a thousand words or so, partially to make up for the lateness last week, but mostly because I felt that this was the best way to present the story thus far. We've finally cleared through my buffer of writing to where I actually am currently making each chapter before It's posted every week, and I couldn't love it more!_

 _As for what you should expect, know that we're going to start getting into the real meat of this story now. Sure, the fluff is always fun, and there's going to be plenty of that don't you worry, but now the plot can take a bit more of the spotlight._

 _Again, I'd still like to thank everyone for the wonderful support, and I really hope you all enjoy the story as it comes! Not much of a note tonight, too tired to type much. Who cares though, you're here for the story after all!_

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Friday was hard on Judy, not seeing her vulpine partner in the morning somehow managed to dampen her normally bulletproof ever-cheery disposition. She found her ears drooping more than usual, and when she noticed something interesting happening they perked up, waiting for a dry quip from her quick-witted partner that never came. In fact, it was miserable. She tried to shake herself out of it over the day, but was unable to fill the noticeable hole in her life even for just twenty-four hours. What had gotten into her? You meet a fox and suddenly you can't bear to be without him for a few hours? She pouted, annoyed at her dependence through her patrol. When she returned home, she also found it hard to sleep. The scent in her room, or lack thereof, made her first realize that Nick's apartment smelled a lot like him, specifically in the misty, lavender kind of way, and second just how comforting and nice the aroma was. Something felt… empty without it, like there was something missing that was usually vital to her life.

Speaking of things that stuck with her on the way out of Nick's apartment, she spent nearly an hour in the showers of her own apartment complex trying to get all of the crimson fur off of her. She tried her best to avoid blocking up the drains with the stuff, but suddenly felt a bit embarrassed at just how covered she really was. She almost needed a lint roller, that is if it wouldn't tear out her own shorter fur. Anyone that had seen her for the past day or so at least might make some assumptions, and again her mind rebelled by not really minding too much about that.

Luckily, she didn't have to go without her fox for very long. Over the weekend Chief Bogo had her come back in and 'bring the fox as well' after an audible sigh over the phone. So, she pulled a blue blouse on to somewhat fit in with her coworkers' color scheme and a pair of jeans to match, strolling up the street from the bus stop on her way to the station after only a few minutes. Sure enough, Nick seemed to take his time getting there. He arrived nearly twenty minutes later.

"Hey Carrots!" the red fox called from the same bus station she had come from, sauntering at his usual pace. The rabbit could still see the veins in his eyes, but the whites had gone back to their proper pearly sheen, she was happy to see that he was smiling as well.

"You look a lot better, Nick," she finally responded as he approached her. A tiny balled up paw came up to punch his arm.

"Ow, well I certainly won't be feeling any better when you break my arm, Hopps. Repetitive stress injuries are a thing, you know."

Judy grinned as she walked with him into the building, waving on her way past Clawhauser. "What, want me to punch somewhere else?"

The vulpine flicked his tail in annoyance, rolling his eyes. "No, I would like to submit a complaint to HR though."

The bunny's face scrunched up at that. "Ugh, don't remind me about that stag."

Nick recalled vaguely that his partner had been pulled into the HR office recently, and couldn't help but ask. "Not a very savory character, fluff?"

"Not at all!" she pursed her lips on the journey to the Chief's office for the second time in almost as many days. "First of all he was 'worried about my mental state' after the Bellwether case, saying that most officers didn't have to go through the same sort of stuff and offered me a paid vacation so I could 'recover'."

Nick chuckled and interrupted slyly, "Yeah, seems like a real jerk..."

"Nick! He did it because he thought I couldn't handle it, thought that I might scare myself to death or something I bet." she pouted.

"Maybe it's standard protocol?" the fox offered, but Judy's ears shot up at that.

"Yeah, just like complaining about personal quirks is," she grumbled, now outside Bogo's door.

"Hmm?"

"He said that he could switch me to a different partner if I felt 'marginalized'. He heard you calling me carrots and thought I might be offended." the lapin spoke quietly and quickly, but Nick's hearing was still good enough to pick up on it.

"Ah, so that's what the whole angry thing is about..." he smiled slyly, "Don't worry about me Fluff, I can take care of myself, trust me. You don't need to defend me from some HR rep with too much time on his hands."

The rabbit officer seemed satisfied with that and nodded as she finally opened the door. The Chief had a pair of glasses that seemed minuscule compared to the size of his head on and was reading a red file. Well, all the files were red, but this one was prominent for its name, Lucy Woolson. "Hopps, Wilde, I don't want to have to deal with any more funny business today. Lucy is in room four for questioning over the events of the last few days. She's been making a full recovery. Also," he took his glasses off to acknowledge them more directly, "her dad might be here. Try not to offend him, he's a friend of the mayor's and I'd rather not get yet another call about a certain fox or bunny."

Judy saluted, nodding once and leaving the room as quickly as she had entered.

"Since when did we start interrogating stabbing victims?" Nick commented dryly as they took a left to reach interrogation room four, down a flight of stairs.

The rabbit shot him a look. "You know that we're not 'interrogating' her, she voluntarily came in to answer a few more questions. We didn't arrest her or anything..." she became progressively more quiet, her voice ultimately trailing off completely as the two noticed a tall, extremely well-dressed ram waiting outside the door of the interrogation room. He was tapping his foot, and for all means did not look very pleased with the current situation.

"Mr. Woolson I presume?" Nick decided that perhaps initiating the conversation would be the best way to handle this one. No point in slinking around after all.

The ram's head darted to the source of the fox's speech, and he noted the two officers approaching. "Ah, Officer Wilde. Must say, I didn't think that they would have you on actual duty so quickly." He sounded at least somewhat apologetic, and it calmed Judy. The rabbit had been standing behind her partner and noticed after a few moments that her fists were curled into balls. She still wasn't happy about what had happened to her partner, regardless of how Nick felt.

"Yeah, I'm sturdy enough to get through that." the vulpine responded, his ear twitching slightly as he caught Judy's expression from the corner of his eye, putting himself quickly between her and the ram.

"Well I should think so! What with what happened to you during the Bellwether incident I don't know if I would have been able to get out of bed for at least a week, yet you went straight through to being a cop! I tell you, it is people like you that make me glad I did this station. I gave a great discount, as you two probably know."

Judy frowned internally. No they didn't know of course, what, were they the treasurer of the city too? And not only that, but what relevance did that have to anything? But, she put up a smiling facade, a skill that one often had to develop on the police force. Nick took over before she had to put any more effort in though.

"Why yes, and I must say, what a beautiful building it is. Truly delightful, really perks me up on a bad day. Now, Hopps and I must be going to see your daughter-" The fox tried to disengage himself and his partner from any further conversation, but failed when the bulky architect interrupted.

"Indeed you must, what I don't understand is why your force is holding my daughter in an interrogation cell after she's just been mortally wounded! I must say, it truly is embarrassing for both me and you! It's not like she would run, why she talks about you two all the time! I must have a word with your supervisor." Mr. Woolson seemed to remember why he was angry, and his voice twisted back from its previous apathy to a much more threatening tone. Nick and Judy shot each other looks, talking to Bogo about this was NOT a good idea. Good leader he may be, he was the PR department's worst nightmare when it came to being disturbed.

"We're merely following procedure, sir. Your daughter may leave whenever she likes, see, the room, it's not for us per se." Judy shot her vulpine partner another look as he tried to defuse the situation, but he ignored it. "Your daughter may have some very… traumatic things to talk about in there when it comes to a case of this importance, and we just can't risk having the meeting in open air. In there, the only people who will hear will be relevant department personnel. That way your daughter doesn't have some nosy secretary spreading rumors about her. For a man of your status and so well-esteemed I'm sure you'd understand the importance of such a measure."

The lapin slowly tapping her foot had a hard time not rolling her eyes. Nick really was laying it on thick this time, she'd seen this tactic of his many a time. In fact, it was part of what convinced her of his innocence when she had first found him in that ice cream shop. How things had changed.

The architect nodded slowly, mulling over what the fox had presented him with in his mind before finally stepping out of the way for the pair. "I'm sorry Mr. Wilde, I must have forgotten who I was speaking to. I shall be awaiting your return here."

Nick smirked at that, and Judy again had to can a groan. All this ego-stroking was hardly what her partner needed. But it got them into the room, so she didn't mind too much.

The pair slipped quickly into the much less comforting design of the interrogation room. Lucy was sitting at the singular metal table positioned in its center. The walls were cold, made of solid unpainted concrete and bordered by glinting metal braces. The room was soundproof of course, and the heavy door swung closed with a slight hiss behind the crimson fox entering behind the much smaller lapin.

"Oh! Hello there!" Lucy peeped out as they walked to the table. She was bouncy and full of more energy than was probably good for her as evidenced by the large bandage over her abdomen. The lamb winced, sitting back in her chair.

"Woah there, settle back, we don't want you getting hurt again after all..." Nick was at the table in a flash, his hands padding the air gently.

Judy joined his side, watching the prey opposite her nearly vibrate with excitement. What could she be so happy about?

"I-I just wanted to say I'm a huge fan of both of you and I'm so so so sorry Nick!"

Oh, so that was it. Great. Something about the juvenile's use of the fox's first name really bugged the rabbit, enough to continue her bad mood from the fox-away incident.

"Hey, I'm well enough to be here, aren't I?"

Great, and now Nick was getting all funny with the little lamb. Again, Judy couldn't place it but something seriously rubbed her the wrong way about this.

"I'm still so sorry, if I had known it was you I would never have done that! I love you two, you're like super famous at my school, and all the stuff you two do. It's like an action movie but real!" The lamb was bouncing in her chair, and Nick couldn't help but chuckle a little. Fangirling was not something that he was totally prepared for yet, though the one school visit he had done so far certainly had exposed him to it.

"A lot of that is probably exaggerated then-"

"Yeah, speaking of which, we really should get to your story Ms. Woolson," Judy cut him off, still brooding, "We asked you to come in and answer a few questions because we were curious about the events that transpired the day of your attack. If you still don't mind answering a few..."

The lamb nodded, her eyes widening suddenly in worry that she had disappointed them. "Oh yes of course!"

"Good," the rabbit continued, "So, Ms. Woolson, you claim that the suspect who assaulted you was male, and a gray fox. Is that correct?"

The lamb nodded, keeping her lips shut.

"Are there any other details that you remember? Anything can help, height, relative build, certain distinguishable markings?" Nick chimed in, and his return to professionalism made the bunny next to him's ears rise gently.

The lapin nodded to herself at her partner's change in demeanor, smiling gently. Perhaps he had noticed her slightly grumpy visage and decided to get to the point. In fact, she wondered whether or not he was doing it because of his training or just for her enough to miss the lamb's response to that question. Damn, she really should pay more attention, what was with her and spacing out around him so much? Nick was giving her a weird sideways look now, oh shoot.

"Well, that's a shame Ms. Woolson, it really would help us identify the assailant if we knew anything more, you really don't remember anything besides his species?" The vulpine's words carried a bit of an edge, but it was lost on the lamb. Judy thanked him internally for catching her up again.

"...No, I'm sorry sir."

Now the rabbit officer understood the look her foxy friend had given her before. As much as crime dramas liked to pretend there was as way to one-hundred percent tell if someone was lying, there wasn't. Even a lie detector had a high enough failure rate to lack enough certainty to be used in investigation. Yet, if one was looking for a good hint that someone wasn't telling the truth, nervous hesitations before simple recalls of memory like the one Lucy had just pulled was certainly a big one.

Judy narrowed her eyes at the lamb ever so slightly, so as to not yet appear threatening. "Are you sure, Ms. Woolson? I must say, because we have no reports of any such gray foxes. You might be misremembering?"

Lucy Woolson was not a trained spy, and she likely wouldn't get very far in an acting career as she let off another tell, eyes flicking nervously between the two officers. "No, I… It all happened so fast that I just don't know what really happen-"

"Lucy." Nick cut her off, but this time his tone was much less speculative. It was a soft voice of reason and understanding, calming to the girl before him. "Listen, we know that it must have been very traumatic for you to go through what happened. You're very lucky you weren't hurt any more than you were, but you're also very strong. I mean, hell, you took down a police officer, and I'm not even one of the old flabby ones. I'm freshly trained! You should be proud of yourself for getting out of whatever situation that was, but in order to help you we need to know what really happened. There aren't any reports of a fox or anything nearby the scene, but maybe if you recall why you were there in the first place it could all come back to you?" The vulpine smiled gently.

Judy's eyes didn't leave her partner for some time, that was the best 'good cop' she'd ever seen. Like, better than the example they gave the new recruits in training as the perfect setup. Nick really was a good cop, well, not in the good cop bad cop way, just in the generally skilled style. She was glad he decided to go through with this career, and was becoming more and more confident in her choice of a partner by the minute. Then again, that only counted if one was allowed to be more confident than one-hundred percent.

Lucy nodded, and her face melted further into the bag of nerves that both officers could tell she really was here. "I'm so sorry! Just, everything I say in here is confidential, right?" she gushed, her eyes staying locked to the fox's.

Nick nodded gently. "No one you know will ever know about whatever you say. That is, unless you did something really bad, like murder, in which case I would ask how you managed to hide the body so well." Again, he tried humor. This time it seemed to have at least some effect, the lamb settled slightly.

"Well..." She paused as Judy pulled a carrot-shaped pen from her side, bringing up a notepad. So much for total confidentiality. "My dad, he doesn't give me much money, see? Says he wants me to work for it. I really kinda got in a rough spot with a few gang members over some scrape on their car, I-I've never been good at driving..."

Judy's ears perked up at that. Now there was a motive. She jotted down a short summary, this was seeming more and more mundane. "Why didn't you report the accident to the police, or the gang involved?" She questioned, keeping her own voice neutral.

"They said they would hurt me if I did!"

Again, another question answered. Nick subtly shot her a look. That would explain why the lamb had been 'misremembering' so many details.

"Don't worry Lucy, we won't let them hurt you, okay?" Nick spoke up, again his deeper tones almost naturally calming.

The quivering lamb settled, if only slightly, at his reassurance. "Thank you, but I didn't know what to do at first so I..." she took a breath to continue but snapped her mouth shut instead, letting the statement trail off.

Judy's writing hand stopped. The bunny looked up at Lucy, her eyes narrowing slightly as her forehead shrunk. "You…?"

"I stole some of my dad's old plans for a few places, okay! I-I don't even remember which ones, they said it would all be okay if I did what they asked but then when I went to give it to them they jumped me! There was this big gray wolf and he ran at me and I just threw the case at them and ran!" She was shaking now, eyes glistening with the first traces of tears.

Judy started to open her mouth, but again Nick stepped in as he had many times before to comfort the younger sheep.

The vulpine leaned forward, looking into her eyes understandingly. "Thank you, and I don't think you need to worry about what you did too much. I would rather think you learned your lesson about stealing or getting involved in gangs?"

She nodded, breaking eye contact with him to stare at her hooves. "Y-Yes sir. Sorry sir. Just, please don't tell my dad!"

Nick smiled gently, keeping his voice calm. "Don't worry, I don't think that will be necessary. Could you do just one more thing for me?"

Lucy nodded quickly, the wool atop her head bouncing with it.

"What was the name of the gang, did you happen to catch it?"

The lamb thought for a moment, racking her memory as to whether or not she had overheard enough of their conversation to place a definite name. "I'm pretty sure that they called themselves the Silver Paw or something?"

Nick filed the information away, giving his lapin partner a quick look. Judy looked right back, 'Silver Paw' was not any sort of gang they had ever heard of, and it was required that they have a general knowledge of the local criminal organizations. It could be a smaller lesser known one, or perhaps something that was just starting up and hadn't been involved in anything to date, but normally even the more dangerous small gangs took some time and growth to turn to serious violence such as stabbings.

Lucy was still staring at both of them apprehensively, and Judy decided that now might be a good time to wrap up the interview. After all, they did have a lot to work with. A motive, a species, even a name of an organization. This was a lot better than what they normally had to deal with. Not to mention those missing plans, it's not like architectural blueprints were any sort of hot seller on the black market or anything.

The bunny closed her small pad of paper, slipping the carrot pen into her back pocket. "Ms. Woolson, thank you very much for your cooperation with the ZPD. We really appreciate it, you gave us a lot of good information. Thanks to your honesty we'll be much better prepared to find whoever did this to you."

Lucy beamed at the praise, her watery eyes quickly disappearing to be replaced by sheer joy. Her dad must not have been lying, she certainly was nervous around the famous officers beyond just the typical questioning nerves seen in most suspects or informants, and their praise was taken very highly.

"Feel free to return home now, again, we can't thank you enough Ms. Woolson," Nick permitted her as he stood from his chair, instinctively helping Judy from hers. Rabbits were certainly one size that didn't exactly fit the 'one size fits all' furniture in the police station. The lamb followed them out, and the two officers gave the billionaire pair a quick goodbye before the sheep scurried off to catch some play.

Judy began the walk back out of the police station, she could write her report from home and didn't want to spoil her day off fretting over the intricacies of paperwork. Yet, she did have to admit that the case intrigued her. "Pretty good in there Nick. She seemed to really like you."

The Fox padding beside her smiled at that praise as they passed Clawhauser's desk, waving to the massive cheetah. "How dare you," he teased quietly, "but is it just me that feels really weirded out by all this?"

The bunny shook her head. "No, I get what you mean. Since when are blueprints hot ticket items on the black market?"

"Since now I suppose," the vulpine responded as he pushed open the front door of the police station. "I just can't think of why. Like, who would need blueprints off of some fancy architect?"

Judy subconciously kept her pace slow and leisurely, and the fox strolling beside her had to consciously keep his steps shorter to maintain his position next to the bunny. Her ears perked up as she got an idea, turning her head to watch Nick as he walked. "Burglars use that stuff! I mean, I bet that anyone who's a client, well, is rich enough to be a client of Mr. Woolson's business would be a great target for theft! Shoot, if only Lucy remembered which of those plans she gave them..."

The red fox swished his tail behind the lapin, nodding quickly. "Now you're thinking like a hustler, fluff."

Judy shot him a look, rolling her eyes. "Either way, we should get some police detail to keep a watch on any of Woolson's clientele."

"And let the rest of the city go without police for a while until they can upgrade their own security, while simultaneously destroying his business? Whatever we do, carrots, we've gotta do discreetly. Speaking of which, perhaps now's not a great time to be talking over case details?" the taller officer offered, stepping into a bus which had stopped on its route. "See you at your place for a movie tonight?"

Judy perked up at that, looking left to right, ensuring that no one had been listening in on their conversation. It looked like they were lucky. "Uh sure, see you then, slick!" She was a little taken aback by his sudden offer, but admittedly pleased. The days without him were harder than she had thought and seeing him for a movie would be nice. Man, she really needed to get some more friends or something, clinging to Nick's leg all day probably wasn't hugely desirable to the fox.

Judy rolled her eyes, tapping a paw against the floor of her tiny apartment. Nick was late, as usual. He was always late by just a few minutes, just enough to slightly annoy-

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

And there he was, right on schedule. Twelve minutes late on the dot.

Judy opened the door to see him smugly smiling down at her.

"Hey Carrots, what's up?"

The rabbit rolled her eyes. "You're late. _Again_. I mean it's not like you're ever late for work!"

The fox swished his tail as he entered, flicking it in the lapin's face. "If I thought it took any work to enjoy your company, I would be on time."

Judy flushed a bit red at that, shutting the door behind her. "Okay slick, whatever you say. Though, whatever happened to that heat thingy of yours? You're not a walking fox-zombie anymore."

"I got some alone time to… uh, meditate. Helps me keep it contained you know? That first day I didn't have time. Forgot to wake up early enough to." The fox was a bit too red himself for his story to be believable, but luckily he was facing away from the bunny at the moment.

"Funny, you really don't strike me as the meditative type..." Judy raised an eyebrow, but the vulpine was quick to shut down the conversation before it continued.

"I'm not." His tone was a bit uncomfortable, and she dropped it gracefully.

"So, what do you want to watch, big guy? Savage Seas?" she offered the choice innocently.

Nick smirked. "Carrots, we both know that you only want to watch Savage Seas because of that one bunny actor you think is hot."

Judy turned red again, punching her friend in the arm. "Do not! Just because I'm a female bunny doesn't mean that I-"

"Fluff, you own like every single one of his films," the fox cut her off, chuckling as he flicked through the list of 'owned movies' on her computer. "Savage Wilds, The Bun Who Loved Me, Goldenhorn, From Zootopia With Lo-"

The bunny had been turning redder as Nick listed her collection off, and she finally cut him off. "So what if I like his movies! Doesn't mean I think he's a hunk or anything, and so what if I did? I mean..." her voice faltered slightly, "it's not like I'm ever gonna meet him or anything."

Her partner smirked, but it was missing some of its usual snarkiness. Nonetheless, he tried to cover it up with a quip. "Admitting there's a problem is the first step to solving it, Carrots. I'm proud of the progress we've made today."

Judy punched him again in the arm, harder this time. It drew an ouch that was loud enough to satisfy the rabbit's embarrassment. "It's not a problem Nick, again, one he doesn't know I exist, and two it's not like he's actually a secret agent. I bet he's a total dick in real life like most actors." She tried to further hide her interest in the male rabbit.

Nick shook his head. "Don't sell yourself short Hopps, I think you're more famous than you know." His voice was more resigned, and Judy perked her ears up at that. Maybe it was true, and at least she could hold on to that. She didn't catch his tone.

"Thanks Nick, though that seems to get in the way more than it helps most of the time. 'Oh Miss Hopps, could you please stop that very dangerous chase you're in the middle of to sign this shirt?'" she chuckled, her vulpine companion following suit.

Nick stood, stretching. "Well Hopps, you pick whatever you want. I gotta go to the bathroom." At this point the fox knew where the restroom facilities were in Judy's building, and escorted himself there.

Judy nodded, sending a lazy half-wave his way as he excused himself. She scrolled through the movies on her laptop. Surely she didn't just like all these because she was infatuated with Jack Savage, right? She couldn't convince herself that it wasn't for that reason at least in some capacity no matter how hard she tried. But there wasn't anything wrong with that. He was a famous bunny actor, and a rather attractive one at that. They were the same species and everything, it was natural for her to strive for that. Plus, it's a harmless fantasy. The character she was in love with didn't exist. Again, the actor could probably be very different in person and she knew how different some could look when they weren't being harped over by hundreds of makeup and costume artists. She convinced herself finally that yes, it was okay that she liked the moves somewhat thanks to the male lead and there was nothing wrong with that.

Also, where was Nick? He left like five minutes ago, he should be back by now. She scanned the room, as if that would help in an apartment the size of a large refrigerator. No sign of her partner as expected, but a buzz on the table in front of her made her ears stand up, darting to the source of the sound. The fox had left his phone on the desk, and it must have just gone off. Judy absentmindedly grabbed the device, checking the now-lit screen. The message was from someone called 'Rachel', no profile picture accompanied it and Judy didn't recognize the app that it was being pinned to his screen by. Its symbol looked like a fire with a fox's tail sprouting from it.

There was a bit of scrambling at the door, and the rabbit officer quickly put the phone face down back on her small desk. Who was Rachel? That sounded like a girl's name, a vixen's name even. Did she know any vixens named Rachel? Why did it seem so familiar?

"Hey Carrots, sorry. There was a bit of a line. Honestly, who lives where you need to wait in line for your own bathroom? We gotta get you a better place, Hopps." Nick was already sitting on the bed and Judy's brain was functioning well enough to take her own place on it as well. She suddenly remembered that her parents had sent her something just the other day, prompted by the sight of her friend's phone.

The rabbit absentmindedly pulled her own phone from her pocket, flicking through to her messages. Sure enough, it was right there at the top.

 _Glad to know you two are getting along well enough! We're here to support you Judy, every step of the way. Though, we are a bit relieved that you're taking things a bit slower than that. What with kids these days and well, our species in general it's hard to find someone who's willing to give that enough time! Be careful still! XOXO_

She sighed, sitting back into the bed. At least that was taken care of. Well, sort of. The lapin wasn't entirely sure that her parents weren't still suspicious but at the moment she was a little more concerned with other matters, like whoever the hell Rachel was.

"So, Fluff, still thinking on which of the many Jack Savage series to watch?" Nick had been patiently flicking his tail and finally spoke up, lightly brushing it.

"Oh! Uh, Savage Seas I suppose? I didn't want to just pick without you," she responded, covering well for her lack of focus.

The vulpine nodded, smiling gently. "I'm fine with a bit of bunny hunk, and I'm sure you are too." He reached his arm out to start the film, as Judy was a bit too short-limbed to reach that far.

She snuggled back into the bed, able to fall almost fully against the mattress with her tiny size. Nick maintained a respectable distance from her on the cushion, but was much closer than if they were strangers. The rabbit officer found herself rather fond of the slight warmth radiating from his fur.

After a few moments, the vulpine's ears flicked at a low buzz that radiated from the desk next to the laptop. He reached out, pawing his phone off of the surface and looked to his partner. She seemed not to notice and it was only the opening credits so far of a movie they'd both seen at least four or five times, so he figured it wouldn't be too rude to quickly check it.

"Oh my god."

Judy's ears perked up, and her eyes shot to the scarlet-orange fox beside her. "What?"

Nick for once wasn't paying much attention to the bunny at his side. Instead, he was typing frantically on his phone and looking rather flustered. A splash of darker red ran over his cheeks.

"Who is it Nick?" Again, the rabbit tried to get a response from her partner. Again, it failed.

"Not now Carrots, just give me a second or two..." his fingers were a blur, only stopping to allow him to think over the next barrage to send.

"Nick!"

Nick snapped out of it, his head darting to face Judy's. That tone had certainly caught his ear. It sounded… hurt, almost. He put his phone face down on the bed, letting it buzz once more and taking a deep breath before addressing his partner.

"You ever used any sort of online dating, Judy?" The bunny perked her ears up, pouting ever so slightly as she shook her head. She really didn't like where this was going.

"Well, there's this app called Cinder, it's for like… well, foxes. Mostly when we're in-season, so to speak." Nick was trying his best to make it sound reputable and not just something that teen vulpines used to hook up when they were in heat, he was already a bit embarrassed that he used it in the first place.

Judy felt her stomach churn, her tiny mouth shifting slightly into an uneasy slash. "And?" she finally spat out.

"Well, I just matched with Rachel! You know, that vixe-… you know what? It can wait. Let's just watch the movie, okay Carrots? I'm sorry..." The fox's eyes shifted as he finally turned to see the absolutely crushed lapin at his side, remorse clear in them. It hurt to realize that he had caused his partner pain somehow, but he certainly seemed to have. A paw gently came up from his side, cupping the bunny's chin.

Judy let him touch her, taking a shaky breath. She didn't know what was wrong with her, Nick had every right to get involved romantically with others, especially with his… needs. "T-Thank you. I'm sorry, I really don't know what's come over me all the sudden," she murmured more than a bit embarrassed, ears falling to her back.

"That's okay Judy. I get it, I'm supposed to be spending time with you, not my phone. Just, next time punch me like you normally do, okay Fluff?" The vulpine smiled gently as he spoke, ruffling the top of her head with his paw.

Judy punched his arm, her own features rising to what could be considered at least the beginning of a smile. "Alright, I will ya big pest."

Nick let the pest slur slide, it was something that he was used to coming from an aggressive civilian more than his partner but understood that in this case the context mattered a whole lot more than being politically correct. His warm, bushy tail gently wrapped around his front lightly, the end of it resting next to Judy.

The rabbit herself was smiling again. Something about this fox just made that happen an awful lot. She finally turned her attention back to the screen. Nick was right, she did rather fancy Jack Savage. The current scene was still a bit of exposition, the secret agent rabbit was onscreen wearing a form-fitting black spec-ops like outfit, complete with as many pockets and buckles as possible. A dangerous-looking submachine gun was casually slung over his back, and Judy blushed a bit noting his rather impressive muscle tone as he gripped a bar on the small submersible he was riding in to his mission. She looked up at her partner, remembering touching his abdomen earlier. She shivered slightly.

"Cold, fluff?" Nick was looking back at her, noting her slight stare as he let her have some of her blankets out from under him.

"Oh, no. Thanks though!" She smiled. There was no need to worry about whatever her brain was trying to tell her. They both had work on Monday and an interesting case to solve, whatever this weird familiar feeling was could wait until then. The bunny took in her vulpine companion's scent, sighing out softly as she snuggled into the covers she had rejected just a few moments previously. Nothing to worry about in the world… she was safe.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note:**_

 _So, now that our heroes are done with their incessant movie-watching and almost-but-not-quite cuddling, maybe they could get some actual work done? I must say, I was really looking forward to writing this chapter and I hope that it's turned out alright. It's a bit shorter than the rest, but I think that where it does stop was a good place to leave it for the week. There will be some new faces that are here to stay for some time, so I hope you get used to them! Of course, doesn't mean that you will necessarily like them, or what they might come to mean to our vulpine/lapin combo._

 _Not to mention, more plot! Yay! Don't you worry though, even if this chapter is pretty heavy, next week I promise there's a bit more fluff to take the edge off. Well, enough of me blabbing, enjoy the story!_

 ** _I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly)._**

* * *

"Wilde! Hopps!"

Judy's ears sprung to attention atop her head as they were wont to do when being addressed. "Yes, Chief?"

It was an admittedly slow day in the bullpen. Everyone present seemed to be rather reserved or tired. Mondays did tend to be that way though, even the great guardians in blue of the city preferred sleeping in some days. Nick was staring at something a little out of focus, and Judy frowned. He must not have had much time to meditate or whatever he did, what with their weekend hangout.

Bogo's voice boomed again. "You're excused for the day from normal duty. You're first up on the firearms training list. I guess they want to get our celebrities through before the public starts to swarm too much." The buffalo shuffled his papers quickly, rearranging their order as he peered through his tiny eyeglasses. "Report to the firing range on the far side of the station, we've got guests from the ZSA here to administer the tests as independent observers. Try not to make a fool of the police precinct while you're there." His last statement was sincere, and with the amount of trouble the pair of officers seemed to get into perhaps it was well deserved.

Judy nodded, her ears burning slightly as the comment drew a small chuckle from those seated in the room. Sure, she may be much more well respected than she had been when she first arrived, but the officers in the bullpen didn't pass up an opportunity to rib their coworkers. "C'mon loverboy, let's go shoot some guns," she covered her embarrassment by tugging her vulpine spaceman out of his chair and out the door. He was busy staring at nothing again, or at least Hopps hoped it was nothing and not her ass when she wasn't looking. Well, _some_ of her hoped that.

The trek to the firing range was familiar, yet foreign feeling at the same time. Hopps had only been to the police firing range one time before despite having been working for the precinct for a few months, the only officers she ever saw go this way were those that volunteered for SWAT detail. ZPD SWAT officers were the only officers that used firearms, and in order to be considered for such a position they had to maintain some general skill in marksmanship. Judy had never tried to get involved in that program. As ambitious as she was, her distaste for the thought of potentially killing anyone was well known and the SWAT team only really got involved when there was lethal danger that demanded the potential for such a response. Until now, those were the only ones who needed weapons training. Now, maybe that was about to change. The lapin's nose twitched in distaste, she hoped that the mayor wasn't being too hasty about his decisions. The last thing he needed was another controversy, especially with how narrowly he had escaped the repercussions of the Bellwether trial.

Nick smiled at the lapin beside him as he started to open the heavy steel door to the range. "You were quiet the whole way Carrots, you feeling okay? There's been a whole lot less bouncy bunny lately and more of the biting your lip thing. That must hurt with those big front chompers of yours."

Judy squeaked, surprised. How had he noticed that? Oh that's right, he was staring at her because he was in-

The rabbit stopped dead, her heart jumping into her throat. The fox beside her paused as well, doing a bit of a double take.

"Hey there, great to finally meet you two. Our local heroes, Mr. Nick Wilde and Ms. Judy Hopps!" A grey rabbit not too far off of Judy's distinct colors but with dark black stripes that ran around the back of his ears greeted them, making a show of the introduction. His hands rose in a mock reveal, a broad, confident smile covering his face. He was dressed in a tight black combat uniform that was covered in various pockets and clips and showed off his toned form rather nicely. Conspicuously several of them were being occupied, such as the pistol hanging from his hip and trio of flash grenades strapped under his right breast.

Nick smiled back, though it was somehow missing some of its usual charm. "Well, you certainly look familiar."

Jack Savage smiled back, holding a hand out to him and shaking the vulpine's orange paw. "I'm flattered. You've seen my movies?" The bunny finished his handshake and moved to offer a paw to Judy.

The female rabbit, for her part, looked like a deer in headlights. Her pupils were tiny dots fixed on the agent before her, and instinct finally kicked in a few seconds too late, blankly staring as she shook his hand.

Jack gave a sideways glance to her partner, still wearing that confident smile. "I'm Special Agent J-"

"Jack Savage!" Judy blurted out, her eyes still a little wild.

The bunny in front of her took a half-step back, blinking a few times. "Yes, that would be my name. I suppose that answers my last question?" He chuckled, shuffling his small paws into his pockets. The female lapin suddenly noticed he was a few centimeters taller than her, which mattered more when you had so few to spare. She tried to hide the fact that her ears were turning scarlet.

"Yeah, she's a big fan of yours actually. You should hear her, talking all day about 'The Bun Who Loved Me', I think she might even-" Nick yelped as Judy slammed her fist into his stomach, a kiloton of nervous energy exploding out of her and into her poor partner. "Jeez Hopps!" He coughed, doubling over.

The Special Agent before them merely raised an eyebrow in amused interest, but spoke up as the fox caught his breath. "I would recommend avoiding friendly fire, despite the name it's not very friendly at all."

Judy's ears shot up and she blushed harder, straightening her back instantly and standing at attention. "I'm sorry sir! Wait… did you just quote Canine Roy-"

"Canine Royale, yes. One of my personal favorites. Gotta say, I don't quite see what you do in The Bun Who Loved Me, too much of the plot was overridden by that shoehorned-in romantic subplot if you ask me."

Judy nearly exploded. "You're really Jack Savage? Like, you're the actor and you're also an actual ZSA agent? I mean, I read about the ZSA sometimes being a bit closer to home than most know but like… I never expected that you actually did all of that stuff in those movies in real life!"

Jack chuckled again, pulling his wallet from a front pocket and flicking it open in one fluid, practiced motion. A shining gold badge on the inside flap boldly read 'ZOOTOPIA SECURITY AGENCY' in navy blue. "Well, it's easy to act like something is happening if you've experienced it before. Don't get too excited though, those movies are nothing but fiction. Our real job isn't nearly as… well, glamorous sometimes." He pocketed his wallet, turning on his heel to begin the trek to the nearest firing booth.

Judy finally had gotten over her shock and accepted that yes, this was actually happening by the time they reached the front of the range. She did her best to hide her fangirling (massively too late) by adopting a respectful and determined slash. Sure, this was her mancrush, Jack Savage. Except, not like just the man on the screen, it turned out that man was real. Not just the face, but the body, the profession… she found it hard to keep that respectful slash and admitted defeat, letting her lips upturn into a smile not unlike the one she wore during her commencement from the police academy. The lapin turned to Nick for the first time since she had seen the agent, squeaking quietly and still wearing her bright grin.

Yet, the fox didn't really look as excited as she did. If she were being honest, she would even say that he looked downright uncomfortable. He was probably nervous about the test, shoot, the test! Judy had nearly forgotten completely about the fact that she was about to be graded on her performance with firearms. She focused, deciding that she could worry about the celebrity in their midst after they were done with what they had come here for.

"Either way, today I'm doing grunt work regardless of how 'Special' or famous I am. So, you two are taking a rudimentary firearms test today. The order of escalation will be as follows:" he paused, getting straight to business, "handguns with non-lethal then lethal load, shotguns with the same after that. Long rifles and assault weaponry optional after that point but recommended, lethal load only. You two will be fine regardless of how well or poorly you perform, so try not to worry too much about this. Just be as careful as you always are around firearms, blah blah blah, required safety briefing this and that." The bunny was referencing a required course all officers had to periodically take that covered a variety of topics including safety and response in case of an active shooter or found firearm.

Judy nodded, her ears bouncing atop her head.

"Officer Hopps, is that you volunteering to go first?"

The rabbit cop jumped, looking to the still silent and rather uncomfortable-looking Nick and back to the Special Agent. "Uh, I suppose so?" She smiled and laughed nervously.

"Alright. Skye!" Jack shouted behind him to where the heavy steel door to the armory was slightly ajar against one wall.

There was some rustling, and after a few moments a figure emerged from the reinforced room. Nick's head shot up, and Judy's eyes followed his gaze to one of the most beautiful vixens she had ever seen in her life. Her fur was a bright, pristine white, and she was dressed similarly to Jack, lacking only the pistol at his side and grenades across his chest. She was carrying two handguns, one in each paw, and carefully marched forward to the pair of officers.

Nick seemed to finally be paying attention, and his usual sly confidence had returned seemingly instantly. "Let's hope she doesn't drop one, eh Carrots?"

Judy shot him a look as her stomach clenched horribly. She had a bad feeling about this vixen, but she couldn't quite place it.

The arctic fox reached them, ensuring that the safeties were switched to the active position on both weapons before setting them on the range counter. She turned to Nick first, just as Jack had, flicking her tail slightly. "Anaya Skye. Good to finally meet the fantastic fox of the nighthowler case. I must say, I'm a bit of a fan." Her voice was of a moderate tone and sounded vaguely exotic in nature, possessing an accent that was hard to place.

Jack nodded, jabbing a thumb at the ice white vixen. "Skye here is the real hero honestly. She's the one that keeps me up to date with all the neatest toys, a glorified quartermaster of sorts. Of course, we're inseparable according to the agency, so she got stuck with the same assignment as I did."

Anaya gave a little head bow, then reached down to shake Judy's paw. The female rabbit did admit that her grip may have been much too tight to be considered anything but hostile, but the fox apparently took it in stride. "It really is great to meet you both, great job figuring out that whole mess. I understand you were the driving force behind the investigation, Ms. Hopps?"

Nick interrupted, and Judy let her mouth hang open for a few seconds in surprise before she shut it again. Normally all of the official introductions were left to her by the fox. "Well, remember who gave the press conferences."

The arctic fox smiled under a paw at him, raising an eyebrow. "I do suppose that is true, in that case I must catch your side of the story some time then, Officer Wilde."

Nick smiled right back, the usual cocky grin that normally brightened his partner now directed to someone else. "You might not know what you're getting into, Ms. Skye. As my partner can probably attest, putting up with me can take a lot out of you." He gave Judy a quick look.

The lapin officer did not look her usual self, instead her eyes were gunning down both her partner and the fellow member of his species he was talking to. The red fox had never seen her like that before, and kept right on turning.

Jack cleared his throat after a few moments of awkward death-glares. "Alright, well. Officer Hopps. Please. Your first set."

Judy nodded, taking a deep breath and calming herself. She couldn't believe her partner. He had used that joking, sarcastic tone with the vixen. That was supposed to be for her! She felt vaguely cheated, but tried to push her insecurities to the back of her mind for a moment. This was rapidly going from one of the best days of her life to the worst, and she couldn't even honestly figure out why her reaction was so strong. So what if Nick… made friends.

The grey doe advanced on the counter, picking up the smaller of the two slightly differently-sized handguns. It immediately felt much too heavy in her paws, being used to the lightweight plastic tasers the force commonly used. She glanced back at the group, Jack was watching her intently. The rabbit flicked the safety off, sighting downrange. Her hands shook ever so slightly, and she pulled the trigger.

 _ **BANG!**_

The weapon went off, nearly wrenching Judy's shoulders from their joints, the sound of the gunshot stabbing into her head as her hyper-sensitive ears rang. She inspected the target after a moment of shaking her head to try to clear it. Nothing. The rubber bullet hadn't landed anywhere on the target, much less near the silhouette of a moderately-sized mammal printed on it. "Oh…" she peeped meekly.

"Here, you're holding it wrong. Hands on the back of the grip, like this." Jack was at her side in a flash, immediately covering her embarrassment and acting as if such a dismal failure was par for the course. He was much closer now, and Judy noticed a slightly pleasant aroma to his fur, like watermelon. He must shampoo pretty regularly. The rabbit found it a bit easier to relax and forget about Nick and the vixen for the moment as his cool demeanor and deep voice focused her. "Wrap your thumb around like… that. There. Perfect."

"So this is good?" Judy stood, her back straight and weapon pointed toward the target at arm's length.

Jack smiled gently, getting even closer to the bunny, his paws suddenly on her hips. "No no, here. Your stance is all off, you don't need to be afraid of the gun, it's a tool." The Special Agent slowly moved his hands higher, the doe's ears turning a solid brick color as they moved her arms back a bit, his hard, warm chest pressing to her back to guide her into a sort of hunched-over position, leaning over the gun almost. "There, try now. Oh, and you'll want these this time." He pulled a set of earplugs from a nearby dispenser, offering them to the lapin.

Judy gratefully accepted them, and noted out of the corner of her eye that now Nick was the one giving a deadly stare to Jack. She frowned at that. It's not like the fox didn't like his movies, whatever his problem with the Special Agent was, he could get over it. The rabbit refocused, taking the stance that had been demonstrated again and pulling the trigger more confidently this time. Again there was the horrible noise of the weapon going off, but it was much more manageable with the provided earplugs. This time, there was a pea-sized hole in the target several centimeters from the silhouette of the mammal. Better than nothing, she supposed.

Agent Savage tapped her shoulder, and she removed an earplug. "There, that's better. Now discharge the rest of that magazine downrange and you'll be good to go for this test." he patted her shoulder again, this time in encouragement, and stepped back.

Judy tried her best, she really did. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for this though. There wasn't any sort of grouping to speak of, all of the holes in her target were scattered randomly despite her aiming for the same point of center mass every blast. She frowned, whimpering to herself as she inspected the damage. "That's not so bad, right? I mean, what does a good result look like? Like, agency standard?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at her gentle pleas. He stepped forward, drawing his own sidearm from his hip and flicking the safety off. The Special Agent emptied twelve rounds down the rage in the span of several seconds, all twelve striking the target in the head and neck within several centimeters of each other. Savage holstered his weapon again, smirking lightly to the bunny. It wasn't often he got to show off while not on set. "I would say that's what a good one looks like."

Judy squealed partially in fear, and partially as the inner fangirl broke through her attempted containment.

"My turn, right?" Nick's own confident tones shut down whatever either of the two were about to say, and the fox casually pulled his handgun off the counter in front of him, eying up Agent Savage. The male rabbit nodded, still smiling slightly as the vulpine took aim.

Nick took a similar stance to that which had been demonstrated to his partner, loosing his own barrage much more quickly than Judy. Jack moved over one stall, standing behind the fox as he lowered his weapon. He nodded once in approval but said nothing more, and Judy peeked her head around the corner of her stall to see the results more clearly. Her face fell. Nick had done nearly as well as Jack had! Then, she stopped worrying about her own performance and grinned. Why does she care that she can't shoot, she should be proud of her vulpine companion. He really was cut out for this police work. "Nice shooting, slick."

Nick's ears perked up at that, but the bunny agent next to him didn't seem quite as impressed. "Pretty okay for a rookie, but lethal rounds are a bit harder to control when you're used to a taser. Skye, bring out the rest of the weaponry, will you?"

The arctic fox nodded, quickly scampering off and returning in stages with more and more deadly-looking firearms. Judy shifted nervously. Was all this really necessary to test?

Jack nodded to himself as the vixen returned for the final time with an assault rifle slung over each shoulder. There was an impressive set of weapons on the table in front of them now, pistols, shotguns, rifles, even several of what appeared to be mid-range sniper rifles. The Special Agent smiled slightly, turning to face the two agents staring at the piles of steel.

"I didn't even know we had all this. I mean what does Bogo think we're going up against, tanks?" Nick spoke up finally, apparently snapped out of whatever mood he had been in by the subtle intimidation.

"Nope, this wouldn't do anything to a tank. Need something much bigger for that, but the agency doesn't like to let me take their toys to places like these or I would've offered a bit more. Sorry that you can't play with the missile launchers, they certainly are the most fun of the whole lot." Jack chuckled as he took the opportunity to casually fill his handgun's magazine from a carton of bullets nearby, slotting it back into the weapon and holstering it again as if it were a daily occurrence. Judy jumped a bit. It probably was. "Either way, quicker we do this the quicker you two get to go home. I figured having all of them available would give you a better-"

The sound of a phone ringing cut him off, all of the assorted mammals' ears twitching and turning to the sound of the noise. Jack started somewhat uncharacteristically of his usual confident outward appearance as he realized it was his. He took the call, walking away from the party. "It's HQ," he offered as a quick explanation for the interruption, "Hello?"

Skye was left facing the two officers as she shook her head at the retreating rabbit. "He's so bad about that. Not to mention, you would think HQ would know he's busy. They _did_ send us here after all." The arctic fox smiled at the two, and Judy suddenly felt very opposed to the vixen's existence again when Nick smiled back. "Either way, I can administer the tests just as well as he can, despite what he might think. So, shall we?"

The rest of the firearms proficiency testing went pretty much as the handgun round had. Judy needed a bit of help to even load a few of the later entries, and downright refused to use the sniper and assault rifles. She didn't think it would be necessary in any way for the kind of police work she was cut out for, but Nick happily took both up and seemed to be a natural at work. Jack finally returned just as the red fox was finishing off his test of the precision rifle.

"Alright, quick work you two, that's what I like to see. Sorry about that, the brass called. They told me a bit about the case you two were working on actually. Tell me, what do you two know about the Silver Paw?" Jack spoke as Nick returned the sniper to the table.

Judy frowned, the inner fan wanted to be an expert in this case to impress her hero, but her brain knew better. "Nothing. Well, besides that they stabbed a lamb the other day." Great job Hopps, first you spray bullets all over the place, now you know nothing about a primary case. Smooth.

Nick shook his head to confirm that he knew just as little, returning to her side silently.

Jack stroked under his chin, nodding slowly and seeming to come to some sort of a decision. "Okay, just checking. As for scores, would you two like to know how you did?" He changed the subject quickly, collecting the reporting sheets Skye had been using from her. The pair nodded, and the lapin continued. "Alright, Hopps. This is in order of the tests taken: 15, 19, 20, 13, 17."

"Is that good?"

"Out of one hundred, Hopps."

Judy's face fell, ears flopping dejectedly to her side. She might not like guns, but that was pretty dismal.

"Nick, same deal. In order that you took them: 93, 91, 88, 90, 75, 97, 99. Tell me, Officer Wilde. Do you happen to have any previous experience with firearms?"

The fox frowned, shaking his head. Jack was looking at him oddly, almost suspiciously.

"Because that is the best set of scores I have literally ever seen any non-agency personnel score. You have to be lying."

Nick's frown deepened even further. "I don't know what you're trying to say, Agent Savage. With all due respect, maybe I'm just good at this." Judy looked back and forth between the two men. As much as she liked Jack, what did he have against Nick? He was a good fox, surely if Skye really was around Jack as much as they said he would understand that.

The Special Agent shrugged, turning away. "Maybe you are. Regardless, I'll be giving Chief Bogo your placements to relay to you during tomorrow's morning briefing. In the mean time..." his voice trailed off and he looked from side to side as if the walls themselves were eavesdropping, again his demeanor changing in a split second. "Now, I can't _technically_ do this, but I have a job to do actually, one of the fun ones. Tell me, how would you two like to tag along?"


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**_

 _So, as some of you may have guessed, I got hit by writer's block HARD. I wasn't able to make a proper sentence for nearly a month, and as soon as I finally was able I found myself ridiculously busy with my studies and life. However, you can't kill me that easy. This little story of mine will be told, regardless of how many sleepless nights I get trying to fit both it and work in. However, maybe not weekly postings but one every two weeks at the latest will work better in this case until I can get things back on track._

 _Basically, I'm not dead (yet), but after the events of this chapter and what with everything going on, will Nick and Judy's potential feelings be? I suppose there's only one way to find out._

 _Enjoy!_

 _ **I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly).**_

* * *

"What?!" Judy exclaimed, her long ears falling to press against her back.

"I said no, I'm not interested. I have something planned tonight. Sorry Carrots." Nick had refused the offer to tag along with Agent Savage, and his partner for the life of her just could not understand his reasoning.

"But… But-" she started to protest, the minute Jack had offered the little job shadow of sorts she had been ecstatic, and had to admit she rather liked the picture that came to mind of her and her vulpine partner on some dangerous adventure (while conspicuously blocking out the part that involved any sort of use of deadly force).

"Hey, don't worry about it one bit. It's just an offer, I get it totally if you don't want to get involved. Obviously it would be one of the less exciting jobs anyway. Kinda like the sort of thing you guys do for PR in the police department." Jack put a much-too-small paw around Nick's back, pulling him away from Judy's quivering features and twitching nose gently, prompting him toward the door. "I'll probably see you some other time too, with those kind of scores I don't think it's above my station to give you a preemptive 'pass' on the initial weapons test. Good work, and you really must tell me your secret some time."

Nick had seemed somewhat apologetic, bordering on hesitant to refuse, but the charismatic male bunny ushered him away quickly, reassuring him that he had made the right decision. "Yeah, thanks. I'd hate to stand someone up, no matter how cool the opportunity might be."

Judy's ears went from flat to perked at that, but certainly not in her usual cheery cute way. Unfortunately, it was too late to question her partner any more, Jack was already showing him out the door and sending him on his way for the rest of his work-free day… and whatever came after.

By the time the Special Agent had returned, she was absolutely fuming. "That stupid fox! I'm so sorry Mr. Savage-" the other bunny held up a hand, but she kept going, "I mean, this is like one of the most interesting things to happen since the Bellwether case! The fact that he doesn't even care about participating-"

"Officer Hopps!"

Judy squeaked as she was cut off by the taller rabbit, silencing herself immediately.

Jack smiled at her, chuckling gently. "I don't think that you should worry about it. He can be his own fox you know, and he did say that he has plans for tonight. I actually didn't expect him to accept anyway. He really did not like me much at all, unless I was reading his body language wrong. Vulpines can be a bit difficult in that regard."

Judy frowned, turning to face her current superior. "You noticed that too? I don't know many people who can really tell when they get to Nick besides me..."

Agent Savage nodded, shrugging.

The smaller bunny pursed her lips. "Not only that, but we do like everything together. He never told me anything about tonight, I mean what could he even have planned?" She admitted that she was thinking out loud, but didn't care. At this point, she was still a bit shocked by her sudden separation from her favorite fox.

Jack chuckled again, patting her back. "Oh, I think that's pretty clear. You can tell when they're in heat, you know? They get all strange and unfocused. Happens to Skye all the time. Err, well once a year really, but that happens to be right around now. Of course, another good indicator is just how fast she started to warm up to your buddy there. Especially when he started nailing those tests. She always has had a thing for guys with guns." He let himself speak a little more freely than he may usually, but he didn't mind just as Judy didn't.

However, Judy certainly _did_ mind what was being insinuated between her partner and the Arctic Fox that was somewhere in the back room right now organizing bullets as well as potentially his plans for the evening. She tried her best to convince herself otherwise. "I… don't really think he's seeing anyone right now or anything. And I mean, he's not the kind of fox that would do that. He needs to find the right girl, you know?"

Jack smiled at her. "You haven't ever met a fox in heat then. And is that so? I should toss Skye his number then, they'd be cute together, don't you think?"

"No!" Judy exclaimed angrily and immediately covered her mouth.

The rabbit agent standing beside her gave her an amused smile. "Mh. Maybe not. I think he already gave it to her when you were on the range."

The police officer's ears burned a bright red, but she didn't say anything, burying how much the gentle teasing really was getting to her.

"Either way," Jack dismissed the subject with a quick wave of his hand and a slight drop of his charming smile, "that actually brings us to what I was going to ask you to help me with. The agency wants me to attend an early screening of the newest project, it's a semi-private event that I didn't volunteer to show up to right away, but since the rest of the cast is going to be there command figures it'll look funny if I don't."

Judy's attention was immediately diverted. "Wait, let me get this straight… You're inviting me to an advance screening of-"

"Skyfowl, yes." Jack seemed to be remarkably pleased with himself as the bunny in front of him nearly exploded.

"Well of course I want to see it! I mean I've been aching to watch it, Nick and I were gonna go see it opening day, I was even gonna preorder tickets and everything!" She failed to remember how much her partner had been looking forward to that particular event in her excitement.

Jack beamed at her praise, then again the look faded for a moment. "Only problem is, everyone will recognize you, so you can't be like a bodyguard or anything combative. Skye was telling me that a good disguise for you might be as, well, part of my… entourage."

The bunny cop was listening, her ears twitching slightly as he said that. The way that he mentioned Skye's involvement sounded somewhat disingenuous, but she couldn't really be sure. He was a good actor after all. "So like, your driver or something?"

The actor frowned, scratching his neck. "No, actually I was thinking more… a date?"

Judy froze, blinking as her eyes widened slightly at that request. She laughed nervously. "Alright, funny joke Savage…" she laughed again, staring at him.

Jake gave a halfhearted smile back, something that _really_ didn't fit well on his face. It looked like broken glass against the usually incredibly attractive features that made up his visage. "Uh… well, yeah. I mean like just as a disguise." He coughed uncomfortably. "Otherwise this would be… erm, massively unprofessional." He coughed again.

Judy's ears began to burn as she noticed the strange reaction, pushing it to the back of her mind. "Of course I'd do that! I mean, getting to see a movie with, well, _you_ in it early? Plus, getting all dressed up is something I don't get to do very often."

The Special Agent perked up slightly at her response and praise, pushing his front paws into his pockets. He gave a genuine smile this time, nodding to himself. "Right. Meet you at your place, eight tonight?"

"Oh, sugar..." Judy checked her phone. It was already seven o'clock and she hadn't figured out what to wear yet for the night's event. She was dressed in a short red gown that cut off just below her knees diagonally that she'd rented on the way home. "Great work Hopps, you look like a boy in this thing. I mean, where did these even go?" She cupped her admittedly modest chest. Sure she wasn't the bustiest of girls, but she preferred that her wardrobe not painfully admit that fact to the world.

She thought for a moment about asking Nick what he thought would be appropriate, but her mood soured slightly again as she remembered his refusal to tag along on the small operation. He was probably busy destroying some hot vixen right now, and she couldn't even dress herself. The rabbit kicked viciously at the leg of her bed, immediately regretting her decision. Metal is a good bit more sturdy than paws are, it turns out.

"Owww..." she moaned, nursing her newly stubbed toes. Why was she so worried about this anyway? Jack had asked her on as a gesture of goodwill, not as an actual date or anything. Then again, maybe that's why she was so worried. If she didn't look good the public might not buy that he was actually on a date with her, she could blow his cover wide open. Her pondering was interrupted by her phone ringing on the bedside table she had set up. It was her parents, and she relished the excuse to stop worrying for a moment about her dress.

"Hey! Good to see you mom, dad!"

Bonnie's ears sprung into frame before her face did, and she nodded quickly. "It's great to see you too Judy! How have you been? And are you still planning on visiting?"

Stu butted into the picture after a few moments, keeping the pace of the conversation at its usual lightning speed. "Oh, and how are you and the big guy getting along? Remember, you might like him, but that fox-away stuff really is great! Not gonna kill him or anything after all, just in case he gets a little too riled up with-"

"Mom, dad!" The officer secretly adored the distraction. "Thank you. And I'll probably visit sometime over the coming weeks. I've got a few vacation days built up and can take one so that maybe I could stay for a whole weekend or something." She made a bit of a face as she addressed the next issue. "And I'm not doing anything with him dad. He's on a date right now or something. I don't really care." She didn't seem to convince even herself with that, an attempt at detached dismissal sounding more like total depression than anything else.

Bonnie pursed her lips, wringing her hands. "Oh Judy, your dad and I know how that can feel, I mean breakups sometimes can be really hard, but you should know that there's always more fish in the sea!" She gave what was supposed to be an encouraging swing of her arm as she said the last line, but Judy cut her off before she could really finish it.

"We're not dating, mom! We aren't and never have been. I don't know what has you two so convinced about us being together, but it's certainly not happening. I know you guys would prefer it that way anyway..."

Stu cringed a bit as his daughter trailed off, but responded nonetheless. "Well… maybe there's someone out there for you a little more… I don't know, close to home?"

The bunny cop didn't want to let that one go, but talking about the issue was only making her feel worse and worse. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? "Whatever. Maybe." Her ears dropped, she looked rather similar to when she had left the city during the nighthowler case, absolutely despondent. Her parents started to move to comfort her, but before they could say anything her ears perked to about half-mast and she continued. "Either way, I've got some work to do tonight..." her ears continued to rise as she talked, thoughts swinging her back from the edge.

She slowly patted back her ears gently, trying to make sure she looked her best as she remembered tonight's engagements. "You two would never guess who I was tested by today for the firearms course!" She was smiling again, so her parents didn't want to address her previous mood and potentially bring her back to it.

Stu seemed to cringe just a bit as she mentioned the word 'firearms'. "You had a firearms course, Jude…?"

The rabbit officer took that as a good enough prompt to break her news, which had the added benefit of smothering her father's endless worrying over the dangers of her profession. "Yeah, but the guy who ran it was _Jack Savage_." She was beaming now, the memory of her hero pushing everything else out of her mind.

Bonnie's paws came up to cover her mouth in surprise. "The actor? What was he doing with the police?"

"Oh, you won't believe this, he's not just-" then, a thought occurred to her. Maybe Jack actually being a secret agent wasn't exactly supposed to be public knowledge, "-an actor, he helps out with all the local police forces and stuff! Apparently he has to learn about the weapons a lot for his movies, so he's useful to have around. Who would have thought that, hm?"

Her mother nodded, Stu following suit. "Well that's certainly something you don't see every day, y'know. Did you get an autograph or anything?"

"No mom, he was there to do a job, I didn't want to bother him. Either way," she cut off her parents before they could shoot back into the conversation, "I'm going with him tonight to an early screening of Skyfowl!"

Bonnie looked to Stu and back to her daughter on the screen in some disbelief. "He just up and invited you?" She was incredulous.

Her father butted in finally, "Jude that's amazing!"

"Now you better wear something nicer than _that_ outfit missy, you'll probably be around a lot of celebrities and not to mention-"

"Jack Savage! Our daughter with what might be the best-known bunny in the business! I gotta say Judy, that's quite the score."

"Now Judy, did you bring it up or did he? Oh, I'm sure it was him, he's such a gentlemammal really if the papers were right about-"

"Just think Bonnie, our daughter going out with a movie star! I gotta say Jude, I knew that you were gettin' kinda famous off the big case ya just did, but this is a bit more than even I expected. And plus, he's a rabbit just like you! Isn't that wonderful?"

Bonnie nodded quickly. "Oh it is! We're so proud of you, you know."

Judy was having trouble keeping up with the conversation, her parents could be pretty rapid-fire when they got going. She decided now might be a good time to step in. Her ears were slightly burning at her mother's assumptions, but that didn't stop her from somewhat enjoying the idea of them. "It's just as a friend mom, he needs someone to tag along with him to the show." Her mother didn't look very convinced, but the officer continued before she could be cut off again. "And you're right… I can't find anything good to wear honestly." Her ears shifted again.

Bonnie stopped for a moment, frowning. "We have so many nice spring dresses back at home that you refused to take with, you know."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I didn't really expect to be going to any royal galas though, mom."

Her mother thought for a moment, Stu looking rather clueless behind her but willing to stay in frame for the moment. "Are there not any places you might be able to buy anything nice around you?"

The rabbit felt her ears burn slightly. "Yeah… I… actually rented this one from a place nearby." She mentally kicked herself for the hasty decision she had made.

Bonnie shook her head. "Oh Judy, that just won't do. I mean, not to be rude at all of course, you really do look better in blue, your uniform certainly fits you ya know."

The bunny cop frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, how long do you have, dear?"

Judy checked her phone. A half-hour now, and she hadn't even touched her fur yet. "Uh… no time. Quick, how do I make this look good?" She had resolved not to panic, but time had moved much more quickly than she liked.

Bonnie pursed her lips. "I guess what I'm trying to say, Judy, is that maybe you should just wear your uniform? People might think you're in costume, and it really does look nice on you!"

The ill-dressed rabbit on the other end of the line nearly facepawed. "Thanks mom..." she groaned. She had no clue as to when showing up as a cop would ever go over well with the public in such a situation, but she was desperate at this point. "If you insist..." she finally offered, "either way, I really have to get going mom, dad. Love you, bye!" Sure, she might have cut them off a little quickly, but that was nearly a Hopps family tradition at this point.

Judy tore her dress off as quickly as she could without damaging it and incurring any additional fees. She looked to the tiny wardrobe she had improvised from a shower curtain bar and a few hangers, pulling her dress uniform on and inspecting herself in the mirror on the back of her door again. She looked okay in it, and her stab vest was padded enough around the chest to rather comfortably cover up her… deficiencies. Still, she wasn't so sure about this. The rabbit gave herself a half-nervous laugh that sounded almost more like a pained yelp, quickly dashing out and to the communal bathroom to make sure she didn't have any bits of fur sticking up wrong.

The half hour moved much too quickly to the rabbit and she dashed back to her room, doing her best to act casual and as if she wasn't just scrambling for her life. It was somewhat strange to Judy when she heard a knock on her door a minute later. Whoever it was, they were perfectly on time. Normally all of her engagements started just a little later than expected with Nick.

She sprung off her bed, quickly moving to the entrance and opening it for… oh dear.

Jack savage was awaiting her. He was dressed in a dark black suit jacket and pants, a white undershirt and red tie accompanying his gray fur. The agent smiled at her, a genuine look that despite her less-than-formal garb stuck around. "Hello Officer Hopps, now I must say, I didn't expect you to come in costume." He raised an eyebrow, but suddenly his smile grew a bit more excited.

Judy nodded, pursing her lips. "Yeah, I'm really sorry! I just got here a few months ago and haven't really moved my nicer dresses to the city… or really owned any in the first place. Not much around Bunnyburrow that needed any better than business casual!" she laughed nervously again, but the male rabbit was already pulling her out the door.

"Don't even mention it, you just gave me an idea… we might be a little late."

Jack's house was even more impressive than his very expensive sports car, and Judy had to take a moment to remember that not only was he a world-famous actor, but also received a government salary that was hard to match in any other department. He had driven them there rather quickly, joking along the way that Hopps might even give him a speeding ticket. She wouldn't have to, he was apparently just careful enough to keep under the limit. She appreciated that, as a cop she'd seen one too many needlessly dead mammals.

The Special Agent could be spotted again as he quickly dashed out of his door, Judy still had no clue what his 'idea' was, but she did know that they were supposed to be there a half-hour before the movie started and they were already five minutes late. Jack rushed to the car, and his partner for the night's eyes widened. He was wearing a full combat uniform that she'd only ever seen in movies, covered from head to toe in armored plates and arctic camouflage, complete with a white beret. His eyes were full of a sort of youthful joy that was hard to find these days, but she could tell he tried to cover it up with his usual charisma as he slid back into the driver's seat. "How do I look?" he flashed her a playful grin as he started the car, pulling out and beginning the journey to the theater, this time not quite following the laws so strictly.

Judy felt her ears burn, she was beginning to get over the initial shock of being with Jack Savage still. "Great, honestly. Still, was this your big idea?" She checked him up and down, observing every detail of his outfit and committing it to memory.

Jack chuckled and nodded. "I liked your costume idea actually, whether or not that was really your intention. So, I'm wearing one of my outfits from shooting days. Err, shooting of the movie, not mammals. Strictly speaking, I'm impersonating an officer in the military right now, which is something totally illegal, but I massively outrank anyone who could call me out on it." He was grinning, the GPS built into the car listing them as only a kilometer away now.

The bunny cop blushed a bit again, turning away to try not to let it show. "Well I gotta say your designer certainly did an awfully good job..." she mumbled, trying to push anything unprofessional out of her mind.

The million-dollar car pulled into a small U created by the road near the theater. A crowd of reporters and adoring fans awaited, lights already blinding Judy through the tinted windows. What did they all care about the car? Jeez. She had had to deal with paparazzi before, but not to this extent. The crowd seemed all-consuming, and entirely overwhelming even to the officer that had already helped to break up one or two less-than-peaceful demonstrations. Jack hardly even seemed to notice, opening the driver-side door and quickly bouncing out, coming around the front of the car to open the door for his current partner.

That was when the flashing _really_ started. Hopps had thought she might be blinded before, but through the veritable stun grenade going off constantly the bunny couldn't even see where she was walking. A cacophony of voices filled her sensitive ears, all questioning the actor she was being essentially dragged through the crowd by. Sure, he might be a gentleman, but at the moment this was a war zone and he was getting her to safety. Finally, they broke through to a short red carpet that had been put down by the theater hosting the event, complete with somewhat discount-looking security. One of them gave Savage a nod, a tiger that seemed to be a bit more premium than his comrades. Judy guessed the ZSA must have more of a presence here than just them.

"First time?" Jack was looking at her, still wearing his charismatic grin.

The lapin noticed that she was a bit starry-eyed still, and quickly moved to cover for her embarrassment. "O-Oh! Yeah…"

"I'm surprised, you're quite the name even in the celebrity world, you know. Not often you get a cop like you roaming the streets." The toned agent was still leading her through to the lobby of the building, but this time he was gentle, subtly guiding her by a paw.

Hopps's ears turned a solid scarlet as she realized he was holding her hand, still dazzled from the lights as she made it into the lobby. She tried, unsuccessfully, to shake herself from the daze. Jack seemed happy enough despite her condition, taking it as an unintended compliment.

The lobby had a small area cordoned off to restrict access to the general public, and several other very well-dressed (and rather attractive) members of the cast were sipping cocktails in recliners while a limited press presence looked on, hiding their cameras from bouncers that appeared somewhat more savvy than those outside.

A gray vixen shot a look at the rabbit officer, and she took a moment to realize that the glance was somewhat aggressive in her current state. It shocked her out of her stupor, body falling back into a much more comfortable status in response to the perceived threat.

Jack was already addressing the fox with a little sly smile. "Hey, no need to get touchy, Sasha. She's not just some fan I picked up off the street this time, this," he presented Judy to the group, who was beginning to recognize some very, very big names that made her feel very, very small, "is Officer Hopps. You may remember that she just about saved Zootopia, doing something that we would only dream of. And I must insist, this is not a date, she is my guest of honor for the night. She's a little harder to tame than most I believe, and wouldn't let me get away with her that easy."

His presentation seemed to completely release the tension that had formed upon seeing the new face, replaced with a light smattering of applause for the bunny cop. For her part, Judy decided that this was a subtle cue to not totally nerd out. "Thank you very much! I must say, what you all do is just as important as the ZPD in many cases, we'd have a lot more crime to deal with if everyone was always bored..." she failed to mention some of the deluded mammals that would cause trouble because they'd seen it in a movie and thought it was cool to break the law, but tact was important sometimes.

Jack nodded as the mote of appreciation received another small applause, and pulled Judy gently to sit next to him.

Sasha, who was now sitting across from them, gave Jack a somewhat playful look. "I must say Jack, or should I call you _sir_ , you must really like that costume to bring it along here. I thought you would be rocking the usual hitman suit."

The Secret Agent laughed, looking to Judy. "Well, this one had an interesting idea, since we're not going as a couple, perhaps I could have a little fun with my wardrobe. I have always loved this armor, as you remember."

The vixen laughed in return, putting a small paw over her mouth. "Oh I do… I think we all remember how I basically had to hold you down in order to get you out of it for the sex scene." The rest of the group was involved in the conversation now and several of them laughed, the rest merely cracking a small smile.

Judy didn't respond in turn, her ears instead shooting up as she tapped her escort's arm lightly. "You never said there was a sex scene in this one…" she hushed to him as the conversation continued.

For once, he didn't look so confident when he turned to her. "I forgot, honestly." He seemed a little guilty about that fact, but attempted to cover for himself. "Still, there's one in every movie, and this one isn't as long as the others…" he offered.

The doe next to him nodded gently, her ears pulled down slightly in a nervous tic of hers. She didn't really want Jack to see how she might react upon seeing him naked, something she'd been privy to a few times before but until now mostly in the comfort of her home and not… right in front of him. She was already trying to block out memories of some of her own… activities when she'd re-watched those scenes.

Soon enough, the conversation around them faded into a dull buzz and the doors of the theater that would be showing the movie opened. For once, Judy was ready and stood first, waiting as Jack casually slid to the doors. The rabbit officer started to go find a good seat, but noticed a rather conspicuous lack of her male companion after about a minute. She set her hat on one chair and looked up, her forehead scrunching up. Where could he have gone?

Just before she began a standard search pattern she spotted him. He had slipped away from her at the door and was personally shaking each fan's hand as they entered the room. Judy felt her heart melt just a little bit as he leaned down to a small mink child, tugging a fake patch out of his pocket and passing it to him. He looked legitimately happy, and so did the agent. Perhaps he wasn't just in this for the money. Jack finally made his way back to the beaming doe, who pretended not to have seen.

"It makes it all the better if you let them believe in magic." The agent smiled gently, winking at his 'date'.

Judy looked up at him as the previews began to play. "What do you mean?"

"Well, that kid thought I was _the_ Jack Savage. The bunny that is on the screen, the secret agent that'll always be there to save the day. A hero." He smiled gentler now, much more sincerely than his usual actor's grin.

The bunny next to him mirrored his expression. "Well maybe they don't need to believe in magic. You _are_ Jack Savage." She enjoyed her inside knowledge about her idol.

She watched as his smile died on his face, the agent beside her showing a side in the moments before the film that seemed to be buried by him as deep as he possibly could hide. "No, Judy. I'm not."

"But you are, you-"

"Hopps…" He looked into her eyes as she questioned him, and for once she saw pain there that was so deep it was impossible to understand.

Judy opened her mouth, still curled at the edge into a smile that was fading faster than smoke in the wind. She couldn't think of a response as she sunk back into her own chair. The bunny beside her pulled his guard back up quickly, the next glance toward him revealed his same confident smile shining back at her again.

"Sorry, that's a spoiler I think. You start to assume that everyone knows the story after a year or so of shooting." He kept his facade up, and for once Judy wished that he wasn't such a good actor.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**_

 _Aaaaand just after being so resolute in my ability to retain my much more lax schedule, I'm a full week or so late! I must apologize, my life has become incredibly busy and I've been using every free moment possible to work, though this chapter admittedly was so bad the first time I tried to write it that I scrapped the whole thing, rewriting it from the ground up. I'm still not sure that I'm happy with the result or if it was worth being a week late, but I think that it gets across the feel of the scene a bit better even if certain things came off as not nearly as natural as I wished them to._

 _Either way, we start to get into the drama quite a bit here, admittedly this chapter certainly isn't all roses and sunshine. I apologize for the focus on Judy and Jack last chapter, don't you worry, we'll get back to everyone's favorite fox-bunny duo sooner than later. Of course, that's not to say Judy might not be feeling a little more than just fangirling for the hunky bunny that's been slung her way. Of course, there's got to be conflict in every story, and beyond just the plot it seems a little love triangle (square? pentagon?) is developing. Whatever the result, I can assure you, dear readers, that more WildeHopps is on the way._

 ** _I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters or assets (sadly), this story is simply being made to share and enjoy and for no profitable purposes (gladly)._**

* * *

 _SKYFOWL_

Judy tried her best to push Savage's moment of pain away from the forefront of her mind, especially considering that she believed she may have somewhat caused it. It wasn't hard to do though when the bunny next to her was smiling and looking back into her eyes with nearly the same glee to be showing a fan his work as she was experiencing to see it. The title card was just now fading and Judy tried her best to contain her excitement unsuccessfully.

The first shot of the movie was snow, a glistening, blinding white that filled the screen and dazzled the audience. Big brass music played somewhere off screen, and slowly the snow around the audience's point of reference became saturated with blood, turning from white to pink and finally settling a deep shade of scarlet. The camera zoomed out slowly to reveal the corpse of a male figure wearing skiing gear that had apparently recently been relieved of its life, then refocused, showing off the otherwise unidentifiable body's badge. ZI6.

And so the movie went. It certainly didn't deviate from formula too much as far as Jack Savage films go, but that was good as far as Judy was concerned. She hid her face during the movie's only sex scene, and while Jack was being honest in saying that it was one of the shortest out of the film series, it still felt like an eternity to the blushing bunny. When she finished covering her eyes for fear of staring at the male next to her through his more intimate appearance she found a small, almost playful smile gracing his lips. She ignored it and continued watching, and soon enough so did Jack.

As the film finally drew to a close, the Special Agent beside her turned halfway to her in his seat, that trademark smile splayed across his features that made the young cop's heart flutter a little bit every time she saw it in person. "So, what do you think?" he inquired.

Judy leaned in closer to hear over the sound of the movie's excellent score, beaming from ear to ear. "I loved it! I mean, it's… well, it's _you._ " She covered her mouth as she said that, it had certainly come out somewhat wrong.

Jack merely chuckled, waving the compliment away carelessly with a paw. "Thank you, it means a lot to me to hear that some people still enjoy these."

Judy couldn't help but interrupt, "What do you mean that some people still do? Tons of mammals love this stuff! It's a great outlet for a lot of-"

The Special Agent smiled at her and held up a paw, cutting her off. "Critics can be brutal you know. This one was better than most according to them, but maybe that's just because they liked watching me get shot a few times in the first couple scenes."

Hopps cringed slightly at that memory. These days effects were good enough that it made her rather uncomfortable to watch the person sitting less than a foot away from her being mortally wounded a handful of times, made worse by the fact that she had seen similar injuries and their consequences before on crime scenes.

The assorted members of the cast and lucky fans were rising from their seats now, stretching the kinks out of their backs and tails. A low buzz of conversation slowly took the theater, and with it the pair also took their place among the standing, shuffling awkwardly out of their row and through the crowd. It was funny, Hopps had figured that for huge celebrities like Savage the process of leaving a cinema would be elegant, not the usual not-so-patient waiting for everyone to lumber out in front of you style that the general public used. Lost in her thoughts, the rabbit realized that he had said something and was looking to her for an answer.

"Wait, what? Sorry, spaced out." she laughed nervously, remembering again finally exactly who she was standing with. Her ears burned and drooped slightly as she watched Jack's face fall.

"I uh, was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner as well. The rest of the cast is going to a rather famous little place not far from here. It's pretty exclusive, normally for only performers or up-and-comings but they do allow one guest each..." The agent coughed, scratching the back of his head. Judy found it rather odd that he would seem so nervous suddenly despite his usual cocky charm.

"Uhhh..." the bunny found herself stammering, "Y-Yeah! Of course!" She accepted without really thinking.

Jack's ears shot back to their own proper upright position and he eagerly nodded. "Great! Thanks." He quickly took hold of her arm, finally breaching the crowd that had formed outside of the theater. The rabbit cop had deja vu for a moment as she was again dragged through the paparazzi, but soon enough she was behind the relative safety of Jack's car door. The striped bunny slid in beside her, letting the vehicle's engine purr properly before catapulting them from the lines of cameras.

The ride to the restaurant took but a few minutes, and upon arriving the pair were greeted by rather peculiar looks from the valet and exterior staff thanks to their current outfits. However, any such odd glances ended immediately when Jack showed the doorman his ID and they were ushered into the building.

The Special Agent wasn't lying when he said this place was exclusive. The first thing that even hit the rabbit officer was the smell of the entire establishment. It was incredible, savory and indescribable all in one. Like if someone had taken all of her favorite foods and mixed them together, then turned that into a kind of perfume that permeated this place. Not only that, but the building was relatively small, there couldn't have been more than twenty tables, each only seating two to four mammals at maximum. It really was rather intimate, the small space coupled with the only light in the place being the product of candles that danced on each table and in somewhat modest lamps above.

"It's… beautiful..." Judy breathed, her eyes wandering over the room around her. The bunny cop had never even gotten close to anything this fancy before despite her almost-celebrity status. She sniffed at the air again. Among the mix of delicious food she thought she smelled something… familiar. Something that made her feel safe and secure more than any heavily-trained secret agent right over her shoulder could. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though, something instinctive almost in the back of her mind more than anything physical.

Agent Savage grinned at her reaction to the establishment, holding her paw on the way to their table. The tiny bit of contact was certainly not unnoticed by its recipient, who merely blushed and allowed it for the moment. She knew that this was her cover, but she hoped she didn't have to do anything more… extreme to keep up her disguise. The rabbit wasn't really sure what would happen if she had to kiss him.

The two were seated, the candles at their own spaces sending odd, flickering shadows across their features. Jack looked even more handsome in the dark, and his eyes seemed almost to glow in the dim lighting, adding to the air of danger and mystery around him. Judy gazed into them, lost for a moment. Then, she caught a hint of another color from the corner of her eye.

"Nick…?" she breathed, almost instinctively.

The militant rabbit opposite her cocked one ear at that, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. He followed his guest's gaze past his head to a table not far behind them. There, a familiar reddish-orange fox was sitting across from a slightly smaller snow-white member of the same species. Judy could spot him from a mile away, not bothering to question why she had been so quick to notice his presence.

The actor cocked an eyebrow to match his ears, smiling and shaking his head slowly. "Well, your partner certainly wasn't lying about his date. I do admit I'm a bit surprised to see him here, but Rachel does prefer to stay relatively within her species as far as dating goes. You didn't hear it from me, but I think she might want kits."

Judy wasn't listening, she had already left her seat, killing the rest of Jack's conversation in his throat. He watched, mouth slowly forming into a slash of disapproval as the rabbit formerly sitting opposite him approached the couple's table. "Or… not. This is a bad idea Hopps, whatever you have planned," he mumbled under his breath at her retreating figure.

Judy was smiling at first, she really didn't know why. "Nick!" she called out across the room that was slowly beginning to fill with various other celebrities returning from the movie premiere. She saw his bright orange ears twitch, turning ever so slightly to the source of her voice, but he never completed the familiar motion by turning his head, instead his eyes were glued to the arctic fox before him. The rabbit's smile faltered, but her pace only quickened to her partner's table. She caught Jack rising from his chair out of the corner of her eye and starting after her at a much more casual, clandestine pace.

"Nick, c'mon, you can't even say-" Whatever Judy was going to say next, it was rammed into the back of her throat by the gaze that locked onto her own. The fox sitting opposite her sly companion was glaring at her with deadly malice. The sight of a predator species wearing an expression of such lethal intent sent her back a pace, her heart suddenly jumping into overdrive.

Nick looked at her finally, but it wasn't the support she needed and was expecting from the fox that was usually so quick to come to her aid. Instead he looked panicked, not unlike his initial reaction to breaking into Mr. Big's limo.

"Ah, Officer Hopps. I must say, I've heard quite a bit about you, especially in regards to your co-worker here." Rachel's voice was pretty, Judy had to admit. She wasn't sure what kind of accent it was, almost English in a strange way. Right now, however, its tone was decidedly ugly.

"Yes, this is Judy. Uh, I don't believe we've spoken much about her. She works with me in the department, isn't that right carrots… er, Officer Hopps?"

Rachel's gaze darkened considerably at the pet name her apparent date had for his co-worker.

"Yes!" Judy quickly agreed, laughing nervously and feeling incredibly unsafe in the whole situation. The only thing keeping her from bolting outright at this point was that odd scent in the air, the smell of lavender and fresh dew was stronger here, if still just on the edge of detectable.

"Hey there, great to see you again Rachel. How did that audition go for The Fantastic Fur?" A paw wrapped around Judy's shoulder, squeezing it a bit harder than what would normally be considered appropriate.

Rachel's glare finally was broken as she turned to the newest member of the conversation, eyes shifting back to that of polite company. "Ah, didn't notice you at first there, Jack. Odd, you normally tend to take up so much space in whatever room you occupy."

The special agent chuckled, "I can be rather quiet when I want to be, as much the acting guild would disagree." He pulled the shorter bunny next to him closer with a meaningful tug, drawing a quick squeak from her. "I see that you've met my date for the night, Officer Hopps."

Rachel's gaze softened slightly at that and she turned back to the female rabbit, looking mildly apologetic. "Ah, I wasn't aware you were in the game at the moment, Jack. And I must apologize for the initial reaction Hopps, I was merely startled seeing you in public, you certainly have made a name for yourself."

Judy nodded and her heart started to calm. "Y-yeah! I did a bit of work but really, Nick was a huge part of it! I hope that the news has been covering that more, I mean I would have died without him!"

"Oh no officer, you honestly had the whole thing under control. I was just along for the ride." Nick's voice cut in with its usual sly commentary, but its tone was ice-cold. Judy's heart lept into a drumbeat rhythm again, and she felt herself shiver involuntarily. It sounded remarkably like just after her little incident in the press briefing. Her eyes shot to try to meet his, but they were the same. Devoid of any warmth as sudden as a candle being snuffed out.

"Wait… N-nick..." her nose twitched, and her mind raced to try to figure out what had happened, what could she have done to reawaken this side of him. Then, it hit her. Why she had been stared at so oddly, why Jack had followed her to the table and why Nick was so cold suddenly. He was on a date. Rachel was his date. And not just an 'excuse to go to dinner and talk' date, this was a fully fledged 'perhaps Rachel was going to get those kits she's rumored to be wanting tonight' date. In her infinite naivety, she had interrupted Nick's night by barging into a potentially intimate affair. Which also meant that… oh. Nick thought she was actually dating Jack. He had no way of knowing that this was just a disguise, and he had talked to her before about how foxes got rather protective of people they liked. He was probably horribly offended, betrayed even that his best friend would go out without even talking about something like this. Not only that, he was probably worried for her. After all, she had just met Jack that day. A date seemed a bit fast. All of this though, she felt, couldn't describe the obvious pain in her partner's eyes. There was something deeper there, a sort of trust and hope that had been snuffed out.

"No no Judy," Nick cut off her pathetic attempts at an explanation with a raised paw, "I'm happy for you. Jack seems like a great guy, not to mention he's fairly successful. Nice catch, Hopps." There it was, that uncaring, irreverent speech pattern that was the fox's greatest shield. It hurt, how good he was at using it even on her.

Not only that, but he was using her full name. Judy found herself tearing up, shaking in Jack's arms. She shook her head and tried her hardest to compose herself, but before she knew it she had tugged herself free of the larger rabbit's grip and excused herself, her pace quickening all the way to the door. Her mind was screaming for her to go back, but she was determined not to ruin this night for Nick any more than she already had. Somewhere in the distance she heard her name being called after her, but then she was out the door and into the cold of the night.

The rabbit officer tugged her dress cap off, throwing it to the ground of the nearest alley. Her back hit the wall and she slid down it, tears spilling over and wetting the fur down her cheeks and of the paws that she was desperately trying to hide them with. She sobbed, shaking, shivering from the cold in her heart and of the night surrounding her.

It took several minutes, but eventually her sensitive ears picked up a voice calling for her.

"Nick?" she offered, wiping her eyes with the back of a furred forearm.

Jack's head appeared from around the corner, his ears similarly tuned. The pain she had seen earlier before the start of the movie was back, and it only seemed to deepen as he looked over her sorry state. The bunny cop sniffled, trying to stop her crying.

Before Judy knew it, Jack was at her side, cooing and comforting her as he lifted her gently to her feet. Or, no, he was carrying her. She wasn't really paying attention as she was hoisted to his car and deposited carefully into the passenger seat. The agent disappeared for a moment before he finally settled into the driver's side across from her.

"I-I ruined it… I-I'm so sorry…" she choked out, taking a tissue that was offered by an outstretched paw.

The same paw pressed to her shoulder, and she looked up finally to stare into Jack's stunning purple irises. "No Hopps, you didn't. If anything, you fit in with the celebrities better than they do with themselves. I might have to talk to a few people about making sure the tabloids don't hear my date ran away crying, but that should be the least of my worries." He tried to cheer her up a bit with his trademark humor. She merely sniffled and stared, her nose still twitching, chest heaving as her heart pounded. "Judy… I'm sorry. This was a terrible idea."

The rabbit officer nodded, her voice hoarse from crying. "Yeah… never trust me on a covert op, I messed this whole thing up so bad… just… Nick…"

"It wasn't you Hopps. It was me. I shouldn't have put on the disguise for your friends. How about I go back inside and tell them what's really going on here?"

Judy took a breath to agree, but hesitated. Nick had his own social life, he was on a date right now and probably wouldn't appreciate any more interruptions. "No… It's okay. Let's just… go home, okay?"

Jack didn't look convinced, but the least he could do now was fulfill her wishes.

Judy slapped the snooze button on her alarm for what may have been the fifth time. She never slept in, but it was difficult to open her eyes. The night previous she had stripped as quickly as possible and surrounded herself with tissues and a stuffed plush fox that she had jokingly picked up after claiming to her partner that it had a striking resemblance to him. Her phone lie across the room where she had thrown it after stupidly sending a page and a half of text to Nick, then her sister when he didn't respond. Her eyes hurt even without attempting to open them, and she was long out of tears. She seriously considered calling in sick, but that would require checking if there was any response from Nick by this point and she would rather pretend her phone didn't exist at the moment.

The defeated rabbit pulled herself finally from bed, sending a few tissues fluttering to the floor. She dressed half-heartedly, stumbling out her door and off to work.

Judy did her best to hide her face on the way past Clawhauser, doing the same in the bullpen. Nick was surprisingly on time, sitting on their shared seat as if nothing was different at all. If only that were true, Judy lamented mentally. She tried her best to put on a smile. It looked like broken glass.

"Right, shut up!" Bogo stormed as he entered the room, his tactics certainly didn't change much. "We've got a few items for today. Same pairs as yesterday, and you've all received individual instructions as to where you'll be patrolling. Thanks to some great detective work by our very own dream team," the buffalo gestured dismissively at the fox-bunny partners, "we know that any of Mr. Woolson's clients are likely targets for robbery in the upcoming weeks. Those should be highlighted on your patrol routes, so pay extra attention to anything that may be suspicious when you near them. I don't know how secure many of these homes are, but we can still do our best to stop anything from coming of this. In the mean time, Hopps, Wilde!"

Nick had been staring at her the entire time Bogo was talking, but Judy knew that if she saw those pained eyes again she wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying. She kept her own gaze as far from his as she could for the moment, then it shot to the chief as he addressed them.

"You two will be pulled out of service today. Apparently you made some friends at the ZSA. They want you both to report to the regional headquarters for an advanced firearms course. Dismissed."

Nick poked Judy's side, finally able to speak now that the chief had finished his piece. "Carrots! What the heck happened to you? You look like you got hit by a bus!"

The officer's ears shot straight up at that, the voice she was hearing wasn't one of a pained and betrayed fox, it was the usual Nick. Snide, cunning, and just ever so detectably protective of her. She could tell how worried he was under his sarcastic ribbing. Her heart sank once again, a theme much too common lately. She must have completely misjudged last night. Her eyes came up to meet his emerald ones, and it all but confirmed her hopeful suspicions. He didn't look angry, sad, or betrayed. Just anxious, almost terrified for her.

"Wait… you aren't mad…?" she peeped out in a tiny voice. She had to confirm it.

"No, Carrots! I'm worried sick though!" Nick hissed back to her as he rose from the seat, leading Judy to their custom patrol vehicle. It was the only car they had access too, and so would be their transport for the day. "I tried to call you FIFTEEN different times. Fifteen, carrots! I don't normally call _once_!"

Hopps flinched, her phone must have turned off when she had thrown it. She held the power button tenatively. Sure enough, it blinked back to life, complete with… "O-Oh my god Nick, I'm so sorry…" There were fifteen missed calls and twenty-seven texts from 'Slick'.

"No, I understand. Just, don't do that to me again, okay? And… I'll be honest Hopps, I was mad last night, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be angry forever. I don't really know what you meant to say in your texts, you were kinda all over the place. I don't know what set you off either, I've never seen you get like that save when you just decided to quit way back in the Bellwether case." Nick sighed as he finished, stepping into the car. He looked exhausted, and the rabbit beside him could tell he had been holding that in for hours.

"I… overreacted… Jack and I were out for PR for his public cover and when he said I was his date you just looked so… betrayed."

Nick flinched slightly as she mentioned the word 'date'. "Yeah, well I certainly felt it at first. I'll be honest Hopps, if you like him, I get it. Just, tell a fox beforehand."

The rabbit whimpered, shaking her head. "I don't. I mean, I do, but not that way… I think. It wasn't meant to be a date between us though. I… didn't expect to run into you."

The pace of their conversation was slowing finally from its frantic pace, and Nick nodded gently. "Okay," He let out a pent-up breath, shaking his head slowly.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, and when conversation started again it was the red fox's soft, warm tones now, a harsh contrast to the hurried recap of the last few minutes. "I was… really worried carrots."

Judy nodded, slowly turning to look at him. He was staring out the windshield of the car, focusing on nothing is particular.

"I tore up two sets of bedsheets in the whole two hours of sleep I got last night, but you look even worse. I'm so, so sorry I made you feel that way, Judy."

The officer beside him felt her heart blossom with warmth when he used her real name in such a caring tone, and she responded slowly. "I'm so, so sorry I reacted the way I did, Nick. I really don't know what came over me…"

The fox beside her put a hand over her paw making her jump slightly, a shiver running up her fur. He looked at her, meeting her gaze with his own for a moment. Then, he removed his paw and started the car. "I get to drive this time carrots, I was right. Bunnies do suck at it."

Judy's ears rose to a peak as she heard that casual cockiness she was so used to keeping at her side. She gave him a light punch on the arm, then a stronger one, her resolve returning. "Shut up."

The fox and bunny rode in contented silence for a few more precious moments, but Judy had never really been one to let silence stand for too long. "You know, slick. I still wonder… what made you so mad about the idea of me going on a date with Jack anyway? I mean, you were on a date too..."

Nick shrugged, noticeably blushing a slightly darker shade of red before covering it with his usual suave ways. "Oh, well I was on a formal date. Pick up a lady, buy her something nice to eat and drop her off. With Jack, well, you never can be too sure about those military types. Some of them can get rather touchy before you know it. Not to mention, he _is_ a rabbit…"

Judy felt her ears burn, she joked about rabbit multiplication once in a while but in this context what Nick was implying forced a comeback. "Hey, I'm not the one who's literally… well, you know, right now Mr. Slick. I'm sure there was a little more to that 'formal' date that you're leaving out. You know, the part after the dinner that's commonly accepted these days?" She prodded his ribs with her elbow as she silently regretted reminding herself of that possibility, her mood taking another spiral.

Nick shot her a look of mock offense. "How dare you. I am a gentlemammal, I don't know what you expected but I'll have you know I drove her straight back to her abode immediately following dinner and we said our goodbyes briefly."

A silence fell over the two, Judy unable to respond with her usual vigor. She finally spoke to break the awkward pause after several seconds. "So… date number two coming up?"

Nick also took a much longer time than usual to answer, and when Judy tried to read his eyes they seemed to be a mix of emotions, somewhat sad, somewhat hopeful, and maybe even a hint of that basal confidence he held. "I don't know carrots, I think maybe I already know someone better, I just can't really get up the courage to ask her."

Judy's ears twitched slightly, trying to get a better look at his pupils as he spoke. She put a paw on his leg gently, watching him stop for a Bengal tiger crossing the road. "Who, Nick? You've said this before..." then, when there was no response, "You can trust me you know…"

The fox looked to his side, giving her that out-of-character pained smile again. He sighed, breathing deeply as he leaned over her slightly. "Carrots…"

Then, the glass of the windshield exploded, a hail of bullets following the debris into the driver's seat.


End file.
